Sarah's Sequel
by Blueclover67
Summary: Started as a quick drabble, but is continued. Sarah is in college, with no memories of the Labyrinth. Enter Jareth King, the new exchange student! Can he bring her memories back and convince her to come home with him as his queen? probably... ON HIATUS/POSSIBLY UP FOR ADOPTION.
1. new student

At Brown College, at the beginning of every morning class, the teachers were taking attendance. Every student was accounted for in math as well as history and science. In English however, the professor called out the name Jareth King and no student answered. The teacher called it a second time and there was still no answer. Frowning, he turned towards the class and called out the next name and the next, until he got to Sarah Williams. "Present," came the answer he expected, in a warm voice. He smiled, Sarah was a good student and had yet to miss a class or assignment turn-in during the two-and-a-half years she had been here. Mr. Dirkson called the next name on the list and attendance continued as it had for the past 18 years in his classroom.

The new student walked down the hallway and heads turned to follow his movement. A smirk crossed his lips as he walked towards the classroom. As he opened the door, the entire class moved as one to look at who had come in. The teacher gave a long suffering sigh at the sight of him. He was dressed in a pair of jeans and a black leather jacket. He wore leather boots and under the jacket peeked a black t-shirt. His eyes were covered by dark glasses, his hair fell slightly over his face and down just over his shoulders in a messy blonde cascade that was pulled back into a tail. As he glanced around the classroom, the students quickly looked in the other direction, but when he turned his eyes away they turned back to ogle the new student murmuring to each other about his state of dress and his tardiness. When he surveyed the room, the teacher's eye twitched. A subtle movement, but he seemed to have spotted it out of the corner of his eye, for he turned toward Mr. Bennett while the smirk on his lips widened.

The teacher glared at him and thought to himself, _this one's gonna be hell. _Out loud he only said, "You must be Mr. King, the new student. Take your seat."

The new student grinned and turned towards the class walking at a leisurely pace to the back where he slid into a seat between two empty ones. He reclined in it leaning back so that his balance was tipped precariously, lacing his fingers behind his head and looking up at the teacher with a secretive smile. Irritated, the teacher moved up to the blackboard and began to write the instructions for the new semester on it. When he was finished, it mentioned a few inconsequential rules, one of which was students being not being allowed to wear hats or sunglasses in class. The new student tipped his head and took off his glasses, hooking them onto his jacket. A few gasps and even more murmurs crossed the classroom as his eyes were revealed. They were mismatched, one green and one blue. The teacher swallowed his surprise and returned his face to a frown.

Even more pissed off now, Mr. Dirkson told the class to get out their books and turn to page twenty five, for that was where they were going to start off. Jareth smirked and raised his hand. The teacher called on him, reluctantly. "I don't have a book, sir," he said innocently, with a grin. Taking a deep breath, the teacher told him to share with another student then. With a sudden thought, he told him to share with Miss Williams, sitting in the front of the class, hoping that she would straighten him out. She had done so with countless others. Jareth slipped out of his seat and slunk silently up to the seat next to her. He threw her a grin, which she rolled her eyes at, and scooted closer to see the pages. Mr. Dirkson smiled to himself, confident he had just diffused a uppity student. Later, he would come to realize what a mistake he had made by putting them together...


	2. new student SPOV

**AN: I am only continuing this because I have been asked to and it still won't leave me alone. :-) Originally this was just going to be a oneshot, so sorry if it isn't quite right. Some OOC here, I think.**

At the start of the school year, I slid into my seat. Mr. Dirksen, our English teacher, walked into the class room, and glancing at the clock, noted we had five minutes. He pulled out an attendance sheet, looking over it. A few minutes later, he cleared his throat, grabbed a pen and took attendance. "Leslie brook!" he called the name of my best friend and roommate. "Present," came the clear answer. He checked a name off, and then continued down the list. When he got to the name of the absent Jareth King, a random shiver ran down my spine. I shook it off. Frowning he called a few more names before getting to mine. "Sarah Williams!"

"Present!" He smiled, finished, and put the paper away. I pulled out a notebook and pencil along with my textbook, happily settling in for a long class.

A moment later, the door opened and a student walked in. Everyone turned to look at the new arrival and murmurs immediately were shot around the classroom. He was dressed in leather and jeans, looking like every girl's teenage fantasy, mine included, with his long blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail and his eyes covered by a set of dark glasses. His features were sharp, aristocratic, and cruel. He turned his head slowly, surveying the room. As he looked, people automatically turned their heads away, and back when his sight had passed over them. When his eyes locked on mine, a sense of déjà vu swept over me so strongly that I felt the hair on the back of my neck rise.

The teacher's eye twitched and the man turned towards him, the slight smirk on his lips widening. Glaring, the teacher said, "You must be Mr. King, the new student. Take your seat." Grinning, he spun on his heel and walked leisurely down the row, slipping into a seat in the very back, and leaned arrogantly backwards, tipping the seat onto two legs while he laced his fingers behind his head.

Calmly, the teacher turned and began writing rules up on the board. I hid a smile when I saw that one of the rules was 'no sunglasses or hats.' The teacher looked pointedly back at the new student, turning all of us in our seats as well, and a smirk passed over the guy's face as he inclined his head and slid them off, hooking them onto his jacket. A few of the students gasped, a few murmured, but all were shocked to see that his eyes were mismatched, one blue and one green. I ignored the new shiver and covered my slight surprise, mostly used to it. After all, my little brother, Toby, had one brown eye and the other gray and my eyes were two, almost unnoticeably, different shades of green.

I spun back around in my seat in time to see Mr. Dirksen scowl, "turn to page 25 in your textbooks!" then almost immediately, "yes, Mr. King?"

"I don't have any textbooks yet, sir," was the innocent answer, in a silky British accent.

"Then share with another student. Miss Williams, would you be so kind as to help this young man?"

I smiled slightly, knowing that he had picked me because I had already straightened out several others over the years, and nodded.

"Thank you. Mr. King, move to the seat next to Miss Williams," he replied.

I waited silently for him to get up, and almost jumped when I saw him next to me without hearing him move. He slipped into the vacant seat and threw me a grin, making my heart involuntarily beat faster. Internally, I groaned. He was going to be one of _those_ charges. Outwardly, I just rolled my eyes. I tore a sheet of paper out of my notebook, gave him a pencil, and scooted my textbook closer to him. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mr. Dirksen smile slightly.

As class ended, and I began to pack up my supplies, King turned towards me, "what's your first name, Miss Williams?"

"If you had been here at the start of class," I replied, "you would have heard it. As it is, you won't ever, because they only take roll at the first class of the year."

He grinned again, "but I wasn't, so tell me, what is your first name?"

I took a deep breath and said calmly, "I fail to see why you would need to know, Mr. King."

"Please, call me Jareth," he replied politely.

I swallowed my retort, (remembering a friend who said something along the lines of 'over my dead body' and wound up being practically stalked by the guy), and said simply, "no thank you."

"Why not?" he questioned easily.

"Because I don't particularly care to be on anything but the barest of friendly terms with you," I answered, slinging my bag over my shoulder and walking out.

As I walked into my next class and sat down I realized that he was walking in this door as well. I clenched my jaw, this guy was already getting on my nerves and I hadn't even known him a day. Quietly, he spoke to the teacher, gesturing at me, nodded at the teacher's answer, and sat down next to me. "I'm your partner again!" he stated cheerfully.

I sighed. "Whatever," I replied, getting my supplies out and handing him some. At the end of class, he once more asked for my first name. Again, I denied him. The rest of the day passed in a similar, if not identical, pattern. He was in _every single one_ of my classes!

At the end of the day, Leslie called as I left the class, "hey, Sarah! Wait up!"

Smiling, I stopped to wait for her, and in front of me, I saw Jareth King smirk as he caught my eye. "Yes, _Sarah,_ do wait up." My heart skipped a beat at the way he said my name, rolling it around and tasting it in his mouth before letting it slip from between his lips like a caress.

I scowled at him, "happy now, King?"

"Not quite, call me Jareth," he replied. I rolled my eyes and walked away as Leslie caught up to me.

"What was that all about?" she asked.

"Forget it, or I'll tell you later, or whatever," I groaned.

A few minutes later, I opened the door to our apartment and got out my homework. The doorbell rang. Cursing silently in my head, I got up and walked to the door, already having a sneaking suspicion as to who was on the other side.

**AN: Hope you enjoyed it. Please review! I like feedback.**


	3. study buddies

I opened the door and sure enough, there was King, not seeming to mind that I was fuming. "what do you want?" I snapped.

"_Sarah, _I simply came by to ask if you would be willing to help me with the homework assignment? I have no textbooks yet, if you recall?"

I gritted my teeth and asked calmly, "how did you find out where I live?"

"I asked around!" came the cheerful reply.

"Very well then, I suppose if you must have help, you can get it from me." He grinned, this time showing teeth, and I saw saw that he had noticeable canines. "There will be no talking except to ask questions about something you don't understand," I paused, looking for a loophole, "and that only pertains to not understanding the work! Not personal or private questions. Unless it has to do with finding the restroom, I don't want to hear it! Got it?" I saw something flash through his eyes at this, too quick to recognize. I stepped back and rolled my eyes, "you might as well come in."

He slipped past me, choosing to take the path that would practically press him against me. As I felt his warm body pass me, I stifled a shiver. He felt so familiar and comfortable, like I imagined an old lover would. I didn't know for sure, because I had never had one, but the feeling was there. I gave him some materials, grabbed a chair, and put the textbook between us. Then, I simply ignored him and did my work. Or, at least, I tried. I was almost constantly aware of him. I could hear him breathing, feel his heat next to me, and a slightly familiar scent filled my lungs.

Irritated, I focused my attention back on the paper. I managed to get through about half of the work undisturbed by anything verbal, but the whole thing was too much to hope for. "Sarah," came the voice. "what is your favorite color?"

I almost growled at this. "blue!" I snapped. "that has nothing to do with what we are doing at this moment."

I could practically _feel_ him smirk at my answer. "just wondering," he replied vaguely.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed he wasn't doing anything except staring at me. "king, why the hell aren't you doing the work?" I asked, irritated.

"Because I am finished, Sarah. Why else?" came the innocent reply.

I turned in my seat to look at him disbelievingly. "You can't be serious! I'm known for being quick, and not even I'm done with it yet!" I looked at my watch, "it's only been a few hours for Pete's sake!"

"Regardless of the time, I am finished with today's workload," he said quietly, pushing his paper to me to look over quickly.

I glanced over it, unable to help admiring his handwriting, and was surprised to see that he was indeed done with it. I sighed and gave it back to him. "So you are. Now that you are finished, you can leave, right?" I said this last bit with a sweet smile thrown his way.

He cocked an eyebrow, "are you kicking me out, Sarah?" he asked, still making my name sound like a caress.

I gritted my teeth, cursing Karen for raising me with hospitality manners. "if you can be completely silent," I ground out through clenched teeth "you can stay and watch me work, if you want."

"Of course, precious."

"And don't call me that!" I snapped immediately.

His smirk widened. "if you insist, pet."

I glared at him, "Just call me Sarah if you insist on not calling me by me last name!"

"as you wish, _Sarah._" I ignored the thrill, sighed, and turned back to my work, this time managing to submerse myself completely.

Four hours later, (five in total), I was closing my books and stretching upwards. I could feel eyes on me and immediately I dropped my arms and looked to my right, surprised to see him there. I had slipped unconsciously into my work and not even noticed him next to me. I cocked my head at him, in somewhat more of an agreeable mood after all the work I had just accomplished. "I can't believe you are still here! I would have left hours ago!"

He merely smiled. "I enjoy watching you work, the way you scowl slightly when you get to a particularly hard question, and smile in triumph when you unravel it," he said softly with a shrug.

I blushed, becoming aware of just how much he had scrutinized me while I was focusing on something else. "ummm," I managed, "would you like something to eat?" I asked politely, cursing Karen once again for her lessons.

He grinned, flashing his white canines again, "if it would not be too much trouble, Sarah."

"Not at all," I sighed. "what would you like? We have pizza or soup," I said. "I have yet to go shopping for anything else yet, so those are our choices."

An eyebrow lifted at this statement, "Pizza, I suppose."

I stood up, suddenly aware of how he had leaned in closer during the conversation, and went to grab the phone. I called the nearest pizza parlor and, after consulting with my guest, ordered a large pepperoni pizza and a 2-liter of soda. Then I sat down on the couch to endure the wait...


	4. twenty questions

Less than a second later, I felt a weight settle next to me. Sighing, I glanced at him. "what now?" I asked.

"I would simply like to know you better, Sarah."

"Not going to happen, King."

"Call me Jareth. Why can't I know you?"

"Because I don't want you to! Why else?"

"How should I know? You could have had something happen in your past that made you not trust people for all I know!" he took a deep breath and his voice softened, "I would need to know you to find if there would ever be another reason, Sarah."

Irritated because I knew he was right, I said quietly, "ask away. You have until the food gets here to ask anything you want," a smile started to form, "however! I reserve the right to not answer any question you ask! Understood?"

"Of course, pet." I glared, "Very well then, do you have any siblings?"

I sighed, "One. His name is Toby. He's younger than me by almost 15 years, but I love him dearly. Next question."

"Don't you want to ask a question of me, precious?"

I barely refrained from snapping at him. "No. Stop calling me that."

"Why? And why not?" Because I don't like being called by anything but my given name, first or last. Because I don't particularly care to know about you. Since you won't drop it though," I continued, "I may as well ask. Do you have any siblings, King?"

"Yes, I have many siblings, my parents love children so they have many. Why won't you call me by my first name?"

"Because I don't really want to be on a first name basis with you! Is that acceptable, King?"

"No. It is not. If we are finding out more about one another, it seems only natural that you call me by my first name, Sarah. Besides," he added slyly, "did you know that in many times, now included, to speak to someone using their first name, while they call you by your last name, puts you in a position of power that is not dispelled until they start calling you by your first name?"

I scowled, knowing that he was using this knowledge to his advantage, realizing it was a trap, but also knowing that it would nag at me forever if I didn't start calling him by his first name. "that won't work on me King!" I singsonged, determined not to let him get the better of me.

"Very well then, Sarah. If that will not work on you, I will just have to keep trying until I wear you down. What is your favorite band or singer?"

"David bowie," I answered immediately. "or Ziggy stardust, if you prefer. I liked him both ways."

Just then, the doorbell rang, interrupting and ending our little game of 20 questions. I headed over to the door and paid for the pizza, bringing it back and giving him some. After we were finished eating I saw him reaching into his pocket.

I turned my head to look at him and saw him pulling something out of his pocket, a crystal. A shudder went up my spine and phantom words passed through my head _"...if you turn it this way, it'll show you your dreams. Do you want it?..." _

Blinking, I came out of it and saw him looking at me curiously, "all right there, luv?" he asked.

Still slightly confused, I answered distractedly, "Yea, fine," not even fulling registering that he hadn't called me Sarah. "Just a moment of distraction," I excused.

"Very well then," came the answer. He began to toss the crystal from hand to hand, up in the air, and back again. I watched, mesmerized, until he tossed it to me with a light, "Catch!" My hand came up of it's own accord and caught it, inches from my face. It was still cold, despite being handled constantly for a solid five minutes a second before. I moved it around and examined it. It was round, about the size of my fist, heavy, and almost completely clear. _"...it's a crystal, nothing more..."_ came more phantom words, making me shake slightly.

I handed it back to him, expecting him to take it, but he closed my hand around it, smiling, "Keep it, luv. To remind you of me." With that said, he got up, grabbed his homework, and walked out the door with a "goodnight, Sarah, see you tomorrow!" and a wave. A few moments later, Leslie walked in the door with a mischievous look on her face. I groaned. I just knew she wouldn't let me off this time.


	5. nosy roommates

**AN: sorry guys, my internet is down and I am sending this in from the library. I don't know how long until it comes back on. I don't think this is a major cliffhanger. We all can guess what is going to happen. See you when it comes back up!**

"Alright! Spill!" came the dreaded words out of my roommates mouth.

"what do you mean spill?" I asked innocently, but apparently too innocently.

She glared. "You know exactly what I want you to spill. But I shall spell it out for you, so that there is absolutely no confusion whatsoever and no way of getting around telling me everything," she took a breath, "Who was the hottie? How did you meet him? What's his name? When'd you meet him? Where'd you meet him? What do you think of him...? For real Sarah! No backing out this time!"

I sighed, knowing that she would get it all out of me sooner or later and so, wondering why I bothered to try and hide anything from her, I 'spilled'. "Leslie, give me a little slack. I just met the guy today and still don't know a lot about him. Okay?"

She sighed, "alright, Sarah. I'll give you a minute in between questions to think about the answers. Good enough?"

I rolled my eyes. "It'll do... no, I didn't know him before he walked into English class this morning. Next question."

"What's his name?"

"His name is Jareth King. You would know this if you had just paid attention in class during attendance!" "Yeah, yeah, yeah. When and where you met him has already been answered soooo... what do you think of him?"

"..."

"Oh, come on, Sarah! What do you _think_ of him? do you think he's cute? Do you think he's your type? Geez, Sarah! Isn't it obvious what I'm asking?"

"Okay. Okay. Yikes, Leslie! I get it, calm down." I took a deep breath and answered, "If you tell anyone this, I will personally slaughter you! Got it?"

She rolled her eyes and waved her hand dismissively, "yeah Sarah. I got it. When have I ever done that to you?"

"He is egotistical and self-centered, with nice handwriting and one of the smartest guys I have ever met. Happy?"

"No."

"..."

She smiled sweetly, steel hiding under the pure innocence of it, "What do you think of him, honey? In more than just a simple way! Do you like him?"

I sat down on the couch. Then I took a breath and thought about it, "I don't know, he seems like my typ-" I was immediately cut off by a squeal of delight. "HOWEVER!" I continued, "he's an ass. He threw me this," I held up the crystal, ignoring the words that went through my head as I saw it and her bewilderment, "and, when I tried to give it back, he told me, and I quote, 'keep it, luv. To remind you of me.' how egotistical is that?"

She just looked at me, "well I think it's actually kinda funny that he is teasing you... you need more of that in your life and I'd do it, but then you wouldn't let me near you for a month."

I glared at her and spun around, intending to go to my room to read.

"Wait right there, Missy! I haven't even started. I still need to know about what happened while I was gone." I winced, knowing it was going to come back worse next time, and made a dash for my door, locking it behind me.

**AN: honestly guys, thanks for reading this.**** You have no idea what all the reviews do to my confidence.**


	6. day two

**AN: thank you guys so much for sticking through this with me. I know how irritating it is when an author doesn't update. I had no internet whatsoever at my house. now that it's back, I will hopefully updating much more often. =)**

"Sarah! Don't you lock me out, girl!"

I sighed heavily, leaning against the door. With luck, she would forget about it in a few days… oh who was I kidding. She wouldn't give it up until she had dragged a detailed description out of me, something that, were it anyone else, would take days, but she would have it out of me the moment she had a chance to corner me.

Groaning, I sunk down to the floor, took a few deep breaths and made my decision. A few minutes later, I was in bed, with the door still locked. She could just wonder about it. Maybe I'd tell her tomorrow… or not. I liked the second one better.

The next morning, I slipped quietly out of the house. I figured that if I left earlier than usual, she wouldn't catch me. I walked into the classroom and sat down, pulling my homework out, going over it quickly, and insuring that my name was on it. Satisfied, I stapled it together and pulled out my textbook, planning to study a bit, happy that I had time to myself.

My reprieve was short lived, however, because within minutes of my entrance, the door opened a second time. _Please let it be the teacher… please let it be the teacher…_ I found myself hoping silently as I looked up. I stifled a groan. It wasn't the teacher, but at least it wasn't Leslie… not that Jareth King was much better. I looked back at my work, hoping he didn't realize I noticed him enter. My hopes were short lived.

"Hello, Sarah. How are you this morning?"

"Fine, King…" I sighed, "How are you?"

"I am doing well."

"King?"

"Yes, Sarah?"

"Why are your mannerisms and your looks so opposite?"

"What do you mean?"

It's just… you dress as though you want everyone to think you are an arrogant jerk, and yet when you talk… oh never mind."

"I understand. You wonder why I seem as though I am cultured even though I act and dress as if I lived on the streets."

"Yeah. But forget it."

"Why?"

"Because I decided that I don't really care about you or your past."

"Sarah, you wound me to the quick!" he replied, pressing his hand against his heart and sliding into the seat directly beside me.

"No. I don't," I rolled my eyes and continued my last minute study. Despite my determination, I was unable to focus on my work. My senses kept concentrating on him alone. I could hear him breathing, feel his warmth, and my eyes wouldn't stay focused where I wanted them. I could feel his eyes on me, watching my every move. Underlying all of it was a scent that reminded me of safety, of home, and of magic.

Taking a deep breath, I turned to him and locked eyes with him. "What do you want?" I demanded.

He smiled. "Am I making you uncomfortable?"

I glowered. "You know exactly what you make me."

He smirked and started to speak.

"Never mind! I suppose you don't know! You are an egotistical, arrogant ass who thinks that just because I'm female I'm going to fall all over you. You are so… so… irritating!" I flung at him.

He simply smiled at me for a moment. "Are you still curious as to my conflicting attributes?"

I was still fuming. "Will an answer in the affirmative make you go away?"

"Perhaps…" came the vague answer.

"Well, it's worth a shot. Yes."

"Simple. I was raised to lead, but still allowed to be rebellious. My parents wanted me to learn to listen, but still to fight for what I wanted. Therefore, they instilled in me a sense of responsibility, but challenged my beliefs at every turn. They drove me over the edge again and again until I learned to control my anger and use it to my advantage," he paused and smiled, "then, for a portion of my life, I was sent to live with the people that would, in the near future, become my responsibility. There I learned how to take care of myself, what frightened the average person, and how to deal with people in general. It was a valuable lesson and I am grateful for it," he finished with a shrug.

Despite myself, I was intrigued, wondering what kind of a background he came from. _Raised to lead? People that would be my responsibility? _Maybe his arrogance came from being raised a certain way and not from the man himself. When I thought about it, I realized that Leslie was right, he was teasing me… and thoroughly enjoying it, obviously. I hadn't been home in months… I'd been so caught up in school… I'd even forgotten what it was like to have someone tease me, one of Toby's favorite activities. Taking a deep breath, I vowed to be more in control of my emotions around Jar- King. Maybe… if I gave him what he wanted, he might leave me alone. He enjoyed provoking me, and I was done giving him the satisfaction.

With that thought, the bell rang and I realized that not only had I failed to study the way I wanted to, I hadn't even noticed the class filing into the room. I sighed, changed my book to the appropriate page, handed King some of my materials and listened to the teacher begin his lecture.

The second day passed in much the same as the first one, with a certain blonde partnering me at every turn. When I made it home that night, I set my homework out, then set out a second set of supplies in case he-

A knock at the door sounded. I shook my head and opened the door, knowing that it would be him on the other side. The only thing I didn't expect was what he held in his hand, a crystal so identical to the one he gave me the night before, that if I didn't know for a fact that it was in my room, I would assume it was the same one. I sighed, opening the door wider. A few seconds passed and I found a slight blush rising to my cheeks, as he looked me over. When his gaze made it back to mine, he moved toward me, brushing against me as he passed, and then seating himself without a word. I pulled myself together and slid into the chair beside him.

As I picked up my pencil, he opened his mouth to speak.

"The same rules apply, King. If it doesn't pertain to the work or the restroom, I don't care."

He chuckled. "As you wish, Pet."

"Don't call me that!" I said, exasperated.

"What? Never been called by a pet name before, Precious?"

I gritted my teeth, the truth being that I had never even been on more than one date with any given guy. Not nearly long enough to be given a pet name. The closest I'd ever come to even a nickname was when Leslie called me 'girl' or when someone close to me abbreviated my name to 'Sar.'

"No, King. I have never been called by a pet name… because no one ever called me one twice, can you guess why?"

He chuckled. "Because you wouldn't let them? Because they were mild-mannered creatures that lacked a sense of fun and daring in their life?"

"Yes to the first one. As to the second, I'm not even going to dignify that with a serious response."

He chuckled before lapsing into silence. Exactly one hour later, he set his pencil down and turned toward me, completely silent. I sighed, barely having made it through a quarter of my work.

"Yes, King?" I asked politely, already fairly sure of what was coming.

"Nothing."

"Then get back to work and stop staring at me."

"I am finished with the work."

"Why did I expect any different?" I muttered under my breath before turning to look at it. "Good job," I praised him reluctantly, "so here's a question."

"Yes?"

"Why aren't you in a more advanced class? With work like this, you should be far ahead of your entire class. Considering how easily you finish it, I would think you would get bored with it quickly."

"Finally curious about my life precious?"

I started to protest but was cut off.

"Because I have looked into this teacher and discovered that he is the most qualified to teach someone that thinks the way I do."

"Of course…" I muttered, "I guess it's just too much to ask that he would just leave…"

I could have sworn I heard him chuckle at that point but decided it must have been my imagination, because I know I hadn't spoken loud enough to hear.

"I'm sure you have something to do tonight, so I suppose I will say good-bye. Good-bye, King," I said cheerfully while herding him out the door, insuring that he couldn't get a word in edge-wise.

"Sarah," he stopped me with a word, standing on the front step, "catch."

I reached up automatically and found my hand closing around a crystal. I held off a small smile, replacing it with a frown, "goodnight, Jar-King."

He smiled knowingly at me before walking away.

I sighed and walked back to finish my work.

**AN: thanks for reading! please review. I could use as many pointers as I can get!**


	7. Leslie always wins

**AN: okay, guys! Here's the next chapter! Hope you like. There is a little bit there that might be kinda confusing, but don't worry, it'll all be sorted out by the end! I actually have plans for Leslie. Okay, that's it, I'll leave you to reading, now! Bye!**

Losing track of time, I didn't even realize when Leslie slipped in the door until she had me pinned in. "So, Sarah…" I heard the unmistakable voice from directly behind me. Cringing, I turned around. Leslie stood behind me with a slight smile on her lips and her hands on her hips.

Taking a deep breath and hoping for the best, I smiled slightly at her, "Hi, Leslie… what's up?"

Her smile turned predatory and I held back a gulp. "Oh, not much, Sarah… Just thinking that now is a good time to finish our talk that you were too tired for last night."

I stood slowly and looked at her. She pointed to the couch and I slumped in defeat before sitting down on it, "Ok… Ask away."

She squealed and leapt onto the couch next to me. "What happened last night while I was gone? What happened today while I was gone?" I started to answer, but was cut off, "Oh, yeah! And did anything happen today in school while I wasn't around? And anything else you think I might wanna hear! Spill!"

She knew me too well. It didn't help that we had been friends since first grade…. "Ok. Here goes…" I started. I told her the entire story, starting from the moment he walked in the door, leaving out as little as possible, knowing that if I left out too much, she would question me and bring out far more than I wanted to reveal. She was bouncing up and down by the time I made it to the part about him giving me the crystal and insisting that I call him Jareth. I just rolled my eyes and continued. When I told her about the conversation we had this morning, she was intrigued, wondering what on earth he had meant by that sentence, 'Raised to lead'.

"MAYBE HE'S ROYALTY!" she screamed.

I laughed. "I doubt it, Leslie… he wouldn't be coming here if he was. If he was royalty, he would probably have a private tutor!"

"What do you call yourself, then?"

"A study buddy."

"Sure, sure. Keep going."

I sighed, continuing on to the evening's study session. She just stared at me when I finished.

"What?"

"Girl, he's got it bad for you…"

"Yeah, right! Les, he wants me 'cause I told him no!"

"Whatever, Sar," she murmured. "Can I see the crystal?"

"Which one?"

"Either. Both!"

I grabbed the crystal from the desk and as I grasped the one in my room, a wave of something washed over me and words came to me.

"There's such a sad love  
Deep in your eyes.  
A kind of pale jewel  
Open and closed  
Within your eyes.  
I'll place the sky  
Within your eyes."

I knew without a doubt that they were lyrics of a song, but I couldn't remember the tune, or the voice. I swayed on my feet as my eyes slipped shut and I started to drown in the words… I could almost remember, I was so close.

"Sarah! What's taking you so long?" Leslie asked, shaking me. "Are you okay, girl?"

I jerked out of it and ran back to the couch, flopping down on it with Leslie on my heels. I handed the crystals to her without a word and watched her carefully. She looked at them for a moment and handed them back, looking amazed.

"What?"

"They're exactly the same…"

"Yeah. Kinda creepy, isn't it?"

"Sarah… what were you remembering? When you were in your room?"

"I don't know."

"Explain."

I struggled for words, "well, I remembered words and knew instinctively that they were a song, but I couldn't remember what the tune was, or what the voice sounded like."

"Tell me the words."

"There's such a sad love deep in your eyes. A kind of pale jewel, open and closed within your eyes. I'll place the sky within your eyes."

Unconsciously, I realized I was singing it. When I tried to remember the tune, it slipped away again. Leslie's eyes were wide. "What? What, Leslie?"

"Sarah, that song is familiar!"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I've heard it before, somewhere! Gimme a minute!"

I waited the song running repeatedly over in my head.

"I've got it!" she cried suddenly.

I snapped back to myself and looked at her expectantly.

"Remember that night that you gave Toby Lancelot?"

I nodded mutely.

"After that night, you started humming that tune! You never put any words to it, but for a good year or two, I would catch you humming it under your breath! You never told me where you heard it, because you never seemed to realize you were doing it!" she smiled triumphantly.

My eyes widened and I remembered Leslie asking me all of a sudden where I had heard 'that song.' Confused, I would always ask her what song she was talking about and she would always tell me I was humming something. I would just shrug it off, saying I didn't know.

"What was the tune, Leslie? Tell me, before you forget!"

She started to hum and I found the tune matched the words in my head perfectly. Softly I hummed along with her and soon she fell quiet. I found myself humming past the first verse and wondering what on earth the next line was.

I sighed, coming to the end of the song. Leslie opened her eyes and looked at me with a dreamy look in them, almost as if it had brought back memories of a time long ago. She shook herself after a minute and took a shaky breath.

"I think we need to go to bed now, Les. It's gotten late and we have school in the morning," I stated, trying to gain a grip on my whirling mind. She nodded and we stood up, walking to our rooms.

I was asleep before my head hit the pillow and fell right into a strange dream about dancing in a crystal ballroom with Jareth, the song playing in the background.

**AN: I am already working on the next chapter, I just realized that this was the best place to stop because otherwise it would be too long. Please review. As always, constructive criticism is welcome! **


	8. Crystal memories

**AN: hey! I think my brain is trying to make up for all that time I didn't publish anything, haha! I've got a few more chapters I'm putting up within the next few days, one of them at the same time as this one. let me know if things are moving too fast!**

When I woke up the next morning, I could remember every minute detail of my dream, which was something that never happened. I found myself drifting off in the middle of class, something else that never happened. Feeling out of it, I muscled my way through the rest of the day and started for home, planning on figuring out what was going on with my head. Moments after I had pulled the door shut and kicked off my shoes, the doorbell rang. I debated on whether or not to answer it, knowing that it was probably Jareth… Once I came to a decision, I walked toward the door and pulled it open before I could change my mind.

Sure enough, standing on my step, looking concerned, was Jareth King. Feeling a headache coming on, I opened the door wider and stepped back to let him in. He slid past me, pressing himself against me as usual, grabbed my wrist and pulled me to sit on the couch next to him. When I landed, he turned toward me with a look of worry on his face.

"Are you alright?"

I sighed, "I don't know right now. I'm having this dream and suppressed…" I stopped, realizing whom I was talking to.

"You can tell me, Sarah. I promise."

That shouldn't have made me trust him, but it did. "I'm having these weird memories that keep popping up randomly, and I had a familiar dream last night. I don't know what's going on, I'm getting a headache from the speed my brain is whirling, and to top it off, my roommate seems to have a weird reaction to a song I remembered last night. One similar to my own. Any ideas?"

"A few. To start with, what triggers these memories? Is there any specific thing you are doing when the memories hit? Something you smell? Hear?"

"Ummm…." I forced down a blush, "not really, no."

"Sarah… you are lying to me. What is it? Something to do with me?"

I nodded, deciding to let him guess.

He sighed. "Is it whenever I am around?"

"Not exactly…"

"What do you mean not exactly? Has it happened before while I am around?"

I nodded again.

"When?" he asked gently.

"The first night."

"When I was playing with one of these?" he asked, taking out a crystal.

I nodded.

"I remember that. It's the crystals, isn't it?"

"Yea."

"Alright. Let's hear it. I won't tease you, I promise."

I took a deep breath, which I seemed to be doing a lot these days, and started to speak. "The first time that I got a flashback was when you pulled the crystal out for the first time. The second time-"

"What did you remember?" he asked, cutting me off.

"Words. Just words."

"What words?"

"'If you turn it this way, it'll show you your dreams. Do you want it?' May I continue?"

He nodded.

"The second time was when you tossed it to me."

"Words again?"

"Yeah. Want to know those as well?"

He nodded.

"'It's a crystal, nothing more.'"

"Go on."

"The third time, I grabbed the second one and reached for the first one."

"And what happened that time?"

"More words. Song lyrics."

"Tell me."

"No," I shook my head, feeling like I shouldn't, not now that I knew the tune.

"You can tell me. I'm safe to talk to about anything and everything. I mean _anything._"

"I won't tell you the lyrics, but I'll hum it for you, alright?"

"Good enough, I guess. I'd still rather you tell me the lyrics."

"Not gonna happen, Jareth." I started to hum the song, focusing on the tune and realizing that it was easier to remember this time around.

As I hummed the song, I could have sworn I heard Jareth sing the second verse, "There's such a fooled heart, beatin' so fast, in search of new dreams. A love that will last, within your heart. I'll place the moon within your heart," but when I looked at him, his lips were closed, curved into a smile.

"What?" I broke off.

"Nothing. I'll tell you before I leave. I bet you have a lovely singing voice."

I shook my head, wondering what was wrong with him.

"Anyways, I've only had three flashbacks. That was the last one."

He cocked his head to the side, "and the dream?"

I blushed slightly, "Just a dream."

"Sarah…"

"Yes, Jareth?"

"What was your dream about?"

"Nothing."

"Sarah…"

"Oh, fine. It was about a dance."

"With who?"

I pressed my lips together.

"Alright, where?"

"A ballroom."

"Were there other people there?"

"Yes, but I couldn't see their faces, they were all wearing masks."

"So, it was a masquerade ball? And you were dancing in it?"

"Yes."

"With who?"

I kept my mouth shut.

"Alright, were you wearing a mask?"

"No."

"And the person you were dancing with?"

"No, he wasn't… well…"

"Well what?"

"I had to look for him in the beginning and he was wearing a mask, then. He wasn't wearing one once we started dancing, though."

"I see."

I nodded.

"Was your age changed at all?"

"Yea… I felt more like I was fifteen again, not twenty-two."

"Who were you dancing with?"

I started to answer automatically and caught myself in time. The last thing I was going to admit to Jareth was that I was dancing with him…

"Just tell me, Sarah…"

"No."

"Do I have to guess again?"

I kept quiet.

"Okay, fine. Was it Mr. Dirkson?"

That startled a laugh out of me. "No!"

He smiled, "then, was it Leslie? No wait, you said it was a man."

I giggled a little at the thought of it being Leslie.

"Please don't tell me it was that idiot William?"

I stared at him in amazement, wondering what gave him that idea.

"I'm right aren't I?" he sighed, "It was that idiot, wasn't it?"

"No! It was you, you moron," horrified, I clapped my hands over my mouth, silently cursing myself.

He smirked, "I know. Why else would you be so worried about telling me? It was the same thing when you didn't want to admit it was my crystals giving you the memories."

I just stared at him, baffled. "Why didn't you just guess correctly, then?"

He shrugged, "Because I wanted you to tell me."

I glared, "Jareth, you are a jerk…"

He just smiled infuriatingly and looked at me. "Do you want the memories to keep on coming?"

I thought about it for a minute, "Yea, I suppose. I mean, if I forgot something so thoroughly that I'm getting headaches and dreaming about it and it's still not kicking in…. I want to know what it is that I forgot."

"Even if it's bad?"

"Yeah, even if it's bad."

"Then I suppose the only way to do that is to give you as much of whatever is triggering it as possible."

"Yeah, I guess s—wait a minute! That means I have to hang around you more!"

"So it does."

"Jareth…" I growled.

"Sarah," he purred, actually purred, and I felt myself shiver at the sensation of his voice creeping up my spine.

"What?" I whispered.

"Is it really so bad to spend time with me?" he asked in a velvety voice, accent thicker.

Feeling oddly dazed, I took a breath to clear my head and shrugged, "I guess not. As long as you promise to respect what I want!"

"Done," he smiled.

I looked at him for a moment and wondered what I had gotten myself into.

"Sarah, now that we have established what causes memories to surface, would you like to try bringing up another one?"

"I actually did while I was humming the song to you, I remembered the second verse."

"That's excellent. Since most of your memories seem to be tied to my crystals, would you like another one?"

"I suppose so."

He put his hand over mine and pulled away swiftly. I felt a crystal land in my palm and looked down. "How did you do that?" I asked.

"Magic," he smirked.

Before I could retort, another memory surfaced, and I found myself dragged under.

_I was standing in my parent's room, looking down at Toby, who wouldn't stop crying. Wondering if a story would quiet him, I began to speak, "What do you want? You want a story? Okay. Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young girl whose stepmother always made her stay home with the baby. And the baby was a spoiled child, and he wanted everything for himself and the young girl was practically a slave. But what no one knew was that the King of the Goblins had fallen in love with the girl and he had given her certain powers. So one night, when the baby had been particularly cruel to her, she called on the goblins for help._

_"'Say your right words,' the goblins said, 'and we'll take the baby to the Goblin City, and you will be free.' But the girl knew that the King of the Goblins would keep the baby in his castle forever and ever and ever, and turn him into a goblin. So the girl suffered in silence… Until one night when she was tired from a day of housework and she was hurt by the harsh words of her stepmother, and she could no longer stand it." He cried louder. "Oh alright, alright!" I picked him up, "Knock it off - come on. Stop it! Stop it! I'll say the words!" _

_Enjoying my game, I continued to play the part of the poor girl, "No, I mustn't. I mustn't say…"_

_Grinning, I thrust Toby up into the air and began a chant, "I can bear no longer! Goblin King, Goblin King, where ever you may be, take this child of mine far away from me!"_

_Slightly disappointed when nothing happened, I put him back in his crib and wished I did know the words to make the goblins take him away. Sighing, I started out the door, realizing that there was a storm coming and the power would probably go out._

I crashed back to the present and looked at Jareth, shaken.

"What happened that time?" he asked quietly.

I just stared at him for a moment.

"Sarah!" he said sharply, jerking my attention to him.

I took in a shaky breath and focused on him, "what?"

"What happened that time? Did you see something?"

"Yea. An odd memory. I didn't realize I had forgotten anything about that night…"

"What night?"

"The night I gave Toby Lancelot…"

"Tell me."

I recounted the memory, going into as much detail as possible. When I finished, Jareth was looking at me with his head cocked to the side.

"What?" I asked, realizing I had been asking that a lot in his presence. For some reason, I had trouble reading him.

"Just wondering what that has to do with the previous memories. Maybe they all happened on the same night?"

"Maybe. I still can't believe I forgot anything about that night. That was the night I realized that I actually loved Toby and that Karen wasn't so bad…"

"Karen?"

"My 'evil' stepmother," I made quotation marks with my fingers.

"Ah. Maybe something traumatic happened that night and your brain sealed it off."

I shrugged. "I guess the only way to know for sure is to keep trying, right?"

"True. Are you still willing to try?"

I nodded.

"I think we should take it slow, try not to force too many memories at once, don't you agree?"

"Yea… You're probably right."

He smiled and stood, walking into the kitchen.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to make us something to eat, it's lunch time."

"I'll do it, I know where everything is."

"Very well," he sat down on a stool.

A few minutes later, I set down a few hotdogs, some chips, some soda, and potato salad. Soon, we were happily munching away and my mind was starting to wander to the man next to me. I wondered why he was helping me remember… was it just because he liked me? I found myself staring at him during my musings and looked away quickly, blushing.

He caught me. "What are you blushing for, Pet? See something you like?"

I gaped at him, fighting back a blush, "No, I was simply wondering why you insist on helping me bring back my memories, if you must know!"

He smiled.

"Jareth! Tell me!"

"Say your right words."

I glared at him for throwing the words at me, but sighed, "Why are you so interested in helping me regain my memories, Jareth?"

"Because I want to spend more time with you and this is the best way to accomplish my goal. Besides," he continued, "I want to know how much we can get you to remember, and I know _you're _curious about why my crystals trigger it." He smiled as he said this last part.

I had a feeling that there was more to it than that, but I accepted the answer at face value, knowing that he was telling at least part of the truth.

"So, do we have a plan of action?"

"Well, you should write down these memories, as well as the time, date, and how you regained them. In as much detail as possible. Don't you agree?"

I thought about it for a minute and nodded my head. "What about the dream? And what if I have more of them?"

"Hmmmm, well, you should write those down as well, and if you dream about me, I think I have a right to know, don't you?" he filled the last half of that sentence with enough innuendo to make me blush cherry red.

"Jareth!"

"What?" he asked, grinning.

"Nothing," I muttered, looking away and trying to get my blush under control.

He laughed, "Seriously, it would probably be a good idea to write them down, and if I am helping you with this, I need to know what they contain. Even if they are about me."

"I suppose," I muttered, reluctantly.

The door opened and Leslie called out, "Hey, Sarah! You home?"

"Yeah! In the kitchen, Les!"

She walked in and looked between Jareth and I. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything!" she said with a grin.

"Nope, not at all," I replied.

She cocked an eyebrow at me, probably noting my still slightly flushed face.

"Sure, sure. I need some help putting together a bookcase, think you guys are up for it?"

I looked at Jareth.

"I have free time."

I nodded. "Yeah, we can help you. Whatcha need?"

**AN: thanks for reading! as always, please review! I've got to know how I'm doing! and besides, they encourage me to no end. :)**


	9. Roommates, love em or hate em

**AN: I told you I'd be posting another chapter immediately after! :) sorry that it's kinda short... there's another dream in the next one, though, so now was the only time I could cut it off without making it like last chapter! that was probably the longest thing I've ever posted!  
**

Three hours later, we sat back to admire our handiwork.

Despite everything, it was actually straight. I laughed in amazement and looked at the two people next to me. They grinned at me. We set it up and put some of the books on there before stepping back to look again. Everything was in place, so I moved to make some dinner for all of us.

"Don't bother making anything for me, Pet, I have to leave," Jareth said from behind me.

I jumped a foot and spun around automatically, glaring at him. "Don't do that to me!"

He smirked, produced a crystal, handed it to me and walked out the door. I simply stared after him as he tossed a, "Goodbye, Precious. I'll see you tomorrow!" over his shoulder.

"He's got it bad. I told you so."

I glanced at Leslie, noted her smug posture, and turned back to dinner, finishing fast. I ate as quickly as I could and headed for my room.

"Uh-uh! Where you think you're going?"

"To bed. I can't deal with a play-by-play analysis of the last three hours, followed by the same for the five hours before that!"

"Oh, come on! If you don't want to talk about that, just tell me so! I was curious as to whether or not you regained any more memories!"

"Oh, sure, 'cause that's all you wanted to know…"

"No it's not. But I respect your privacy… for now."

I laughed. "Yea. I remembered something else."

"What?" she bounced over to the couch dragging me with her.

"I remembered the second verse to that song, and I remembered something I had forgotten about that night."

"What is the second verse?"

I shook my head, "I don't think I should tell anyone, not now that I have the tune. Does that make sense? Almost like it should never be sung, except by the person who wrote it."

"I guess… and the best way to do that is make sure no one ever hears both the tune and the lyrics?"

I nodded.

"Alright," she sighed, "but you can still tell me about the other thing, right?"

I told her.

"Wow. What does that have to do with anything?"

"I don't know. I guess I forgot more than I know, and it all feels like the same night, because I have no blank spots anywhere else in my head."

"You know, that story sounds a lot like that book you were always carrying around with you. What was it called?"

I shrugged, not really sure what she was talking about.

"It was some kind of play…."

"Yea," I answered, memories starting to resurface, "a red book."

"Something about a maze…"

"Labyrinth," I corrected her absentmindedly.

"Yea! That was it!"

"What?"

That was the name! _Labyrinth_!"

I sunk down into a memory, one played out in a park with Merlin.

"_Give me the child! Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle, beyond the Goblin City, to take back the child that you have stolen. For my will is as strong as yours and my kingdom as great. You have no power over me!"_

_Finishing my speech, I took a bow and looked over at Merlin, grinning. Suddenly, the clock tolled. I was late! I had to get home or Karen would give me hell! It started to rain and I raced home through the downpour, making it home just in time to be scolded and get into a fight with Karen. Pouting, I stomped up to my room to get dressed in something dry. My dad knocked on the door a few times before I heard the front door slam and I knew that they had left, finally. _

_My eyes alighted on an empty shelf and anger surged through me, "someone has been in my room again!"_

The memory ended and I stared into the distance for a minute.

"Sarah! What happened? Another memory?"

I explained it to her. "I think it is all tied in with that book and that night... But I still don't know what would have made me forget," I frowned, "it's not like anything traumatizing has come up so far…"

"Maybe we should get to bed and sleep on it. We can talk more at lunch, yea?"

"Okay," I yawned and turned for my room.

"Sarah! Don't forget these!" she smiled mischievously and tossed me the last two crystals he had given me.

Blushing slightly, I retired to my room and fell into bed, once more asleep before I landed.

**AN: Let me know how I'm doing! review, haha. Thanks for all your support, guys! It really means a lot to me!**


	10. Dream or memory?

**AN: Okay, so this is the dream chapter I was talking about. Sorry it took so long to get up, I had to dig through my movies and find Labyrinth so that I didn't get anything wrong here… Sorry in advance if it's kinda, you know, repetitive or familiar would be the word? Feel free to skip over all of the italics. It's just the first part of the movie.**

**I realized I haven't done a disclaimer yet!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material that you recognize. That goes to its rightful owners! I do however own the plot, and I would very much appreciate if you would not copy any of my hard work without permission from me first. **

**Good enough, you think? Sorry, I'll let you read. These ANs get longer every time I do one….**

_I was standing in my parent's room again, only this time, I had just said "I wish the goblins _would _take you away, right now," turned off the light and Toby had immediately stopped crying. "Toby? Toby, why aren't you crying? Toby?" As I spoke, I flicked the light back on, trying not to panic when it didn't come on._ It's just the storm, it's just the storm, _I repeated to myself over and over. Nonetheless, I hurried back into the room, worried that Toby had stopped so suddenly. As I walked to the bed, I saw something in his crib. Relaxing, I reached out to pull the covers off his face and jerked back when nothing but the sheets appeared. Panic struck and I jerked around, trying to find where Toby had gotten to in such a short while. I noticed something rustling in a corner and turned my head… no Toby. I heard scuffling and giggles behind me and spun as fast as I could, catching a glimpse of something brown and slightly fuzzy looking as it disappeared over the edge of the bed. Suddenly, the windows began rattling and I spun to face them as they flew open and an owl soared in. I shielded my eyes for a moment as a sudden gust of wind hit me. When I moved my arm down, I saw a man standing there._

_It was Jareth, but he was dressed oddly. He was wearing black armor and what seemed to be a mixture of a high-collar cloak and a cape. "You're him, aren't you? You're the goblin king?" _

_He smirked_

"_I want my brother back, please! if it's all the same."_

_His smirk deepened and he crossed his arms, "What's said is said."_

"_But, I didn't mean it!" I pleaded._

"_Oh, you didn't?" he looked at me with mock surprise on his face._

"_Please, where is he?" I begged, frightened._

"_You know very well where he is," Jareth replied, placing his hands slightly behind his back and on his hips._

"_Please, bring him back, please," I was still unsure of what was going on, hoping that Toby wasn't where I thought he was, and realizing that I was dead if Karen found out._

"_Sarah. Go back to your room; play with your toys and your costumes. Forget about the baby," He shook his head slightly as he said this._

"_I can't," I replied, slowly becoming more worried about Toby than what Karen would do to me._

_He looked at me for a moment, and then brought his hand up, "I've brought you… a gift." As he spoke, a crystal materialized in his hand, one identical to the ones Jareth had been giving me in reality. _

"_What is it?" I couldn't help but ask._

"_It's a crystal. Nothing more." My dream was piecing together random memories and the aspects of the day. As he spoke, he began to play with the crystal, turning it repeatedly over his hand, starting at __the wrist and rolling it up his hand, over his fingertips, and down to his wrist on the other side before going back again. It was mesmerizing._

"_But if you turn it this way," faster now, "It'll show you your dreams," he began passing it from the back of one hand to the other, over and over. "But this is not a gift for an ordinary girl, who takes care of a screaming baby," it came to a stop, resting on his fingertips in the same way as when he had conjured it, "do you want it?" and he held it up, offering it to me._

_I stared, still trying to except everything that had happened and being tempted in spite of myself._

"_Then forget the baby," he smirked again._

_I snapped back to reality, "I can't, it isn't that I don't appreciate what you're trying to do for me, but I want my brother back." I was holding back tears, "He must be so scare-"_

"_Sarah," he interrupted me, lifting the crystal as though he would throw it at me and the crystal suddenly turned into a snake, weaving itself around his fingers. He grabbed it and stretched it out, head in one hand, tail in the other, "don't defy me."_

_Suddenly, he threw it at me! It wrapped around my throat and my hands flew up, grabbing onto it as I let out a little scream. I pulled it away quickly and flung it off me, noticing as it flew away that it was just a purple scarf. As it landed, however, it turned into a furry little creature that looked kinda like the offspring of a bat and a dog. It scurried off and I heard chuckles and giggles from behind me. I spun and heard drawers shutting and thumps on the floor as whatever was watching me ducked out of sight._

"_You're no match for me, Sarah," he said, shaking his head slightly. Through all of this, he had yet to look away from my eyes._

"_But I have to get my brother back."_

_He moved aside, almost shrugging as he did and pointed out the window, still not breaking eye contact. "He's there, in my castle."_

_I rushed to the window, wondering how his castle could be outside my house all of these years and not have me notice it. I could feel his eyes on me the entire time. Outside the window, there was an enormous labyrinth with a castle in the center of it. The sky above it looked as though the sun was setting, but I saw no sun to speak of. There were odd little plants growing along the outside of the window and I found myself gaping._

"_Do you still want to look for him?" his voice cut through my thoughts._

_Still staring, I replied, "Is that the castle beyond the goblin city?" I turned slowly around as I asked._

_He stood there behind me, the window nowhere in sight, and a phantom wind blew his hair as he replied, "turn back, Sarah! Turn back before it's too late."_

"_I can't… don't you understand that I can't?"_

_I turned back to look at the labyrinth again._

"_What a pity," he said quietly._

_It doesn't look that far…." I said, trying to psyche myself up._

"_It's farther that you think." he murmured in my ear, "and time is short."_

_He turned around and walked a few steps, pointing to a clock floating in the air, one with a thirteenth hour. "You have thirteen hours to solve the labyrinth, before your baby brother becomes one of us…" __he was slowly backing away, shaking his head and his voice was taking on an echoing property as he slowly disappeared, "forever… _such _a pity…"_

_As he faded away, I found myself struggling to stay asleep and find out what happened next. Slowly but surely, consciousness dragged me away._

I opened my eyes and focused on what to do next. Write. Jareth had told me to write them all down. I blindly scrabbled for a pen and paper, grabbed a random notebook and scrawled as much as I could remember about the dream, focused more on the conversation than anything else. After that, I wrote out a detailed description of everything I could remember, such as the labyrinth and the creatures around me, as well as what Jareth was wearing. Then, I organized it all into something that made sense and sat back, turning to look at the clock. My eyes widened, I had slept through my alarm! Class was in twenty minutes! Forgoing a shower, I brushed my hair and teeth, changed, grabbed a poptart, my wallet, my school supplies and (oddly enough) a crystal before racing out to the car.

I stumbled into class a moment before it started and took my seat, blushing when the teacher cocked an eyebrow at me. I had _never_ been this late to class before… even if, technically, I was still early.

**AN: Sorry for repeating basically the first part of the movie in that dream there, but it kinda had to be done…tell me how I'm doing. Do you guys want her to have a _memory_ with Jareth in it, or do you guys just want it to stay dreams for now? (I might ignore you and listen to my muses, but feedback is always important to me.) Please review! Moreover, feel free to flame. I'm secure enough in this story at this point to take it… I think. I still would prefer _constructive_ criticism, though, haha.**


	11. Love him? Love him not? I don't know!

**AN: Here you go! I'll just put down the disclaimer and then get on with it! R&R please!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material that you recognize. That goes to its rightful owners! I do however own the plot, and I would very much appreciate if you would not copy any of my hard work without permission from me first. (honestly, it's fanfiction, it's obvious that we don't own it, why is it necessary to do these?)**

Classes seem to be drag on forever and I found myself yawning and wondering more about my missing memories than any of the content of the lessons. At the end of the day, Mrs. James pulled me aside.

"Sarah, are you alright? Is everything okay?"

"Why do you ask, Mrs. James?"

"You just seem to be paying less attention to class these past few days, I was just wondering why?"

"I've just been having some serious problems with something personal."

Her face crumpled into a concerned look, "Is there any way I can help, dear?"

"I don't think so; I'm just… just..."

Just what?" she prompted.

I sighed, "It's nothing. Memories of a time I hadn't realized I'd forgotten are resurfacing. They are just… just really messing with my head and I can't seem to focus on anything but remembering…"

"This isn't like you, Williams. If you need help, you know how to reach me. Promise you will?"

I laughed lightly, "I'm alright, Mrs. James, really, I think a slightly traumatizing event occurred on a night a few years back and I blocked it. I'm fine though, and I'm sorry if I have been a little out of sorts."

She smiled warmly, "its fine, Dear. Just make sure your papers are turned in on time and I'm sure we can work something out if we have to." She winked conspiratorially and walked away. I just stood there for a moment, shaking my head. I was amazed at this. I started with just Les trying to help me with this, and now I have three people buzzing around me like bees.

I walked up the drive to the house and noticed a figure standing on my porch, leaning against the railing and looking straight at me. He was dressed the same as always, black shirt, leather jacket, dark glasses, dark jeans, but this time, as I looked him over, my heart skipped a beat, my breath quickened, and I couldn't help a blush that spread over my body when his lips lifted in a smile as he spotted me. I quickened my pace, eager to go inside where I could find a distraction, and stumbled on the porch steps, my bag flying off my arm when I threw out a hand to catch myself.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed movement and then I was caught, one arm around my waist, the other snaking between my breasts to grab my shoulder. My arms automatically wrapped around the ones holding me as I was pulled against a hard chest, my head dropping back against his shoulder and I felt myself relaxing into him as the adrenaline cooled. Then, my heart sped up again as the warmth, scent, and feel of him penetrated my senses. He chuckled against my hair and I blushed again, pushing away from him. He held me still for a split second, probably to show me that he could, then released me carefully and picked up my bag, waiting for me to open the door.

Still blushing, I unlocked it and swung it open, letting us in. I turned on the desk light and spread out my homework before sitting down to complete it, simultaneously pulling up another chair for him. He tossed his coat onto the rack and lowered himself into it as I turned my attention to the books before me. The usual hour passed and Jareth set down his pencil, leaned back in the chair and turned to watch me complete my work. I finished surprisingly quickly and spun to face him, deciding to ignore the incident from earlier.

Taking a deep breath, I jumped in. "I had another dream last night."

"And?"

"You were in it…."

He looked at me and smirked, "What exactly was I doing there?"

I blushed, knowing full well what he meant. "For you information, you were the bad guy!" I rethought that for a second as his face fell slightly, "Well, actually… I guess I asked you to do it… Oh, I don't even know anymore! I suppose I asked that the child be taken and you took him. You wouldn't have if I hadn't said the words…."

He smiled slightly at the smorgasbord of words that had tumbled out of my mouth. "I see. Did you write it down?"

"Ummm…. Yeah. I'll just let you read it." I yawned and grabbed my notebook from my room, flipping through it on my way back and then again as I sat down. After flipping through a third time, I realized something… I groaned. "It's not in this one! I must have put it in one of the school notebooks... ugh; we'll have to look through all of them until we find it I suppose…"

"What a pity. I was hoping we could get more figured out today…" he murmured, looking at me.

I shivered visibly.

"Are you alright, Precious?"

"Fine. I'm just overly tired and I just had a flashback to the dream. You said that first part in it is all."

He cocked an eyebrow. "Interesting… shall we find the notebook, then?"

"I think it was a blue one… or a green one." I sighed, "Let's get to work, I suppose."

We sorted through six notebooks before finding the right one.

"Here it is," he cried, pulling a folded over one out of the pile.

"How do you know?" I asked, snatching it.

"Because it has my name on it…." He looked at me, smirking suddenly, "Unless, of course, there is another entry with my name in it. That looks suspiciously like a diary."

I glared at him before going back to scanning over it. "Yep, this is the one. See if you can make heads or tails of it, Jareth," I replied, slapping it against his chest.

He smiled at me, then picked it up and started reading. I moved to put away my work and he caught my hand, pulling me down to the couch next to him and tucking me against his side.

"Jareth! Let go of me!" I jerked away, embarrassed.

He glanced up at me, smiling a little, "Sorry, my sister used to sit like that with me whenever she gave me something she wrote. I would begin to read it over and she would squirm her way in, waiting for what I would say. Soon, it became habit to tuck her there if she gave me something to critique." He grinned at me, "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

I relaxed a little, "no, I just overreacted a little," I replied, blushing a little. I sat slowly back down, moving cautiously to sit in my previous position. He smiled slightly and slowly draped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer. I relaxed into him a little as he refocused his attention on the dream; it was my turn to watch him. His expressions were fun to watch and I found myself becoming absorbed in him as he continued to read.

His hand began absently stroking my hair and I relaxed further, savoring the feel of it. The last person to play with my hair this way was my mother. It was the night before she left and she was sitting in my room, reading labyrinth to me as she stroked my hair. That night, she had told me she loved me and the next morning, she was gone. I hadn't seen her since. I was six at the time. I felt my eyes slip closed as I concentrated on the feel of his fingers combing through my hair.

I woke up curled against something warm. A delicious scent surrounded me and I nuzzled into it, savoring the feeling of safety and love surrounding me. Something was stroking my hair and I was more content than I had been in a long time. Then I noticed that my pillow was moving in a steady rhythm. Up down, up down. I remembered who was stroking my hair before I fell asleep and where I had caught that scent before and I froze. I heard a sigh and my pillow rose and fell much more heavily for a second before settling back into its previous rhythm. The hand on my hair never stopped moving, though.

Slowly, I opened my eyes and looked around, still too sleepy to pitch a fit yet. I was lying against his chest as he leaned back against the arm of the couch. He had wrapped one of his arms securely around my waist, keeping me from rolling around too much and the other was holding my head against his shoulder and stroking my hair. The notebook was on the floor and the window was dark. I knew I should get up, but he was sooooo warm and comfy and I hadn't felt this way in a long, long time. I had certainly never felt it with a guy before. As I contemplated this, I felt his eyes on me and realized that I had to get off him and freak out or he would never give me peace about it. Worse, he would expect us to be more than just friends and I refused to enter into a heartbreak relationship.

I gritted my teeth and harshly shoved myself into a sitting position, preparing to freak. "Jareth!" I freaked, "What are you doing?"

He chuckled at me and smoothed his rumpled clothes. "Nothing, Pet. You fell asleep and weren't replying when I tried to wake you up, so I moved so that you would be more comfortable. Besides, you were already practically laying on me already; I simply made it so that you wouldn't be sore when you awoke."

I opened my mouth to say something and he continued.

"Before you say it, I would have put you in your bed, but you wouldn't let go of my shirt." He lightly placed his hands over mine, "See? You still haven't."

I looked down and realized that he was right; I still had a death-grip on his shirt. Hastily, I removed my hands from his chest and stood up, my argument foiled. I walked toward the bathroom, needing a minute to compose myself before I mentioned how late it was and kicked him out.

"Where are you going, Pet?" He asked as he brushed up against my back. I jumped a foot and snapped back a reply, "To the bathroom! Stop following me!"

I knew he was smiling without turning around, "I'll wait for you on the couch; we still haven't talked about your dream."

"Yea, ok." Damn, I'd forgotten about that. Looks like I would have to be near him until Leslie came home from work. I shut the bathroom door behind me and sat down on the toilet, dropping my head into my hands and taking a few deep breaths.

I needed to get myself under control, because if I didn't, he would break down my defenses and I'd wind up hurt again, or hurting him when I told him that I couldn't love him, the same as the others…

A few moments later, with that in mind, I walked out of the bathroom and grabbed some food from the kitchen, bringing it to the couch and flopping down next to him, careful to keep some space between us. After a few moments of eating, I turned towards him, "what do you think?"

"About the dream? Or why you left so quickly?"

I fought off a blush. "The dream of course!" I snapped.

"I think there is an element of our current relationship in there, along with the memories we have already stirred up. I also think that at least some of the dream is true."

"What do you mean, 'our current relationship'?" I nearly shrieked.

"Well, you are seeing me as someone offensive to you, when really; I am doing everything you ask of me."

I stared at him. "How the hell does the dream have anything to do with my memories, then?"

"Probably because it was a memory… for the most part. You remembered most of that the last time I was over, you simply gained a little more, like wishing him away the right way, you see?"

I was quiet for a moment, "you aren't doing everything I ask of you."

"How so?"

"You don't listen to anything I tell you to do, like not talking during homework that first time or when you don't drop something when I tell you to. Or in the beginning, when I said I didn't want to know you and you pushed at me until I asked!"

He smiled that infuriating smirk at me, "but you did want to know me, the curiosity was killing you and I gave you a way to ask without making it seem like you wanted to. As for the homework, I asked a single question, wondering how aware of me you were. Notice I haven't spoken a single time since the initial interruption?"

I sighed, unable to refute his logic, "whatever, just drop it, will you?" I knew that if he didn't, I would have the perfect argument against him, the third thing, the one he hadn't mentioned, failing to drop it.

"Do you truly want me to drop it? Or are you merely saying it?"

I dropped my head into my hands for the second time that night.

"Jareth…" I moaned.

I thought I heard him suck in a breath. "Yes, Sarah?" his accent was slightly stronger than before.

I ignored the reactions my body had to it, "drop it, okay?"

"As you wish."

I heard the key turn in the lock and jumped up, knowing that Leslie would have groceries, because it was her turn to do the shopping. We helped her bring them in and as soon as everything was put away, I felt an arm wrap around my waist and pull me against him while Leslie was in the other room. I started to pull away, but he brought his other hand up, holding a crystal and I couldn't help but stare at it, wondering if it would evoke any memories.

"Sarah, I've brought you a gift."

My breath hitched, "what is it?"

"It's a crystal. Nothing more. But if you turn it this way, and look into it, it'll show you your dreams." Somehow, he was sending it over his hand in a fashion identical to the one in my dream. "Do you want it?"

"Yes…" I spoke the words that I longed to say in my dream, "yes, I want it. What for it?" I knew that this one wouldn't be free.

"A kiss." I could hear the grin in his voice and I wanted to jerk away right then, but I wanted the crystal more, so much more. "_You want to know what happened that night_," a small voice whispered in my head, "_you want your dreams."_

Slowly, I turned around and looked up. I found my lips an inch from his. "Fine, Jareth. But only because I want to know what I forgot."

"Of course, Precious."

At the moment before I spoke, I no longer cared about getting the crystal, only wanted his lips on mine. I lifted my head slightly and they touched for a moment before I decided to pull away. I was stopped with a pressure on the back of my head as he pressed his mouth onto mine, forcing a jolt of electricity through me. My arms flew up to wrap around him and I felt his hand tangle in my hair as the other wrapped around my waist, crushing me to him. I was lost in the feel of him and happy to give up control for once.

"Hey, Sarah, I need a little help with—crap, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."

My roommate's voice snapped me back to reality just as he was about to deepen the kiss and I pulled quickly away, panting. "There. Now give me the crystal."

He looked as ruffled as I felt, and there was an odd flame in his eyes, one I had never seen before. "Of course, Pet. Here you are," his voice was a little rough and his accent was thicker than I had ever heard it, insuring that I barely controlled a shiver. He held out the crystal and as I reached out to take it, words from my dream left me shaken and confused, _...but what no one knew was that the king of the goblins had fallen in love with the girl…_

The crystal dropped into my hand and I pulled myself together to look at it. There was something different about this one, but I couldn't place it. I felt him watching me and looked up into heated mismatched eyes. It felt as though he was devouring me with his gaze. I jerked my attention to Leslie. "What did you need, Les?"

"Oh, nothing much, just a little help with this dress I'm designing. I need a model, I hope you don't mind. And I'm really sorry for interrupting."

"Oh, it's not a big deal," I brushed it off, "I was about to pull away anyways, he wanted a kiss in exchange for a crystal and I figured I'd better make it good or he might want another one."

"Oh, I want another one," I heard his velvety voice say behind me, "But you earned that crystal fair and square."

I smiled at Leslie, slightly embarrassed. "Let me see the dress. Jareth, you are not staying here while I change my clothes or prance around the house in my underwear. Get out."

"As you wish, Precious," he answered. I was surprised that he didn't put up a fight at all, just grabbed his coat and headed for the door. "I'll see you tomorrow, Sarah. Goodbye, Leslie," he threw over his shoulder.

"See you tomorrow, Jareth…" I answered, still reeling from the kiss. The moment the door shut, I collapsed to the couch, my fingers on my lips as I replayed it in my mind and stared at the crystal.

"Damn, Sarah. He's not the only one who's got it bad!" My roommate broke into my thoughts.

"Yea right!" I cried.

"Oh, come on, Sarah. I've known you since first grade. I know all your tells!"

"I am _not _in love with Jareth King!" I protested.

She just smiled. "So I need you to model this dress for me, change into it, please. It's strapless, so take off your bra."

I snatched the green fabric from her hand and changed into it, not bothering to go to the bathroom. We'd known each other forever and had enough sleepovers over the years. Add that to living together for the past few years and there wasn't really a point. We had seen everything there was to see at any age and it wasn't a big deal. We were both girls after all.

The dress was gorgeous! The skirt was made of layers of sheer veil-like material with a darker solid beneath it. The bodice was strapless and had diamond-like sequins encrusted in it. It was the same color as the underskirt and hugged my curves, dipping low enough to show off what looked to be a fair amount of cleavage, even with my small breasts. There would be no wearing anything under it. The skirt had trails of sparkles running down it that were invisible until I moved and the color itself made my eyes pop out, clearly showing that they were two different shades. I loved it.

She stood back for a minute, looking before she moved to work on it, tightening it in so that it wouldn't fall if I moved around too much and marking a spot on the skirt to cut off, since it pooled a little too much on the floor. "Leslie, if I ever get married, you're designing my wedding dress, understood?"

"Yay! Of course, I'll design it, silly! And I'll plan your wedding, too!" she shrieked. I laughed and got stabbed with a needle for moving around too much.

After about a half hour of standing there, she told me to take it off. "Wow, Les, usually it takes you a lot longer to fix it once it's on me…"

"Well, I've figured out a trick to making it fit you a little better. I made this one slightly smaller than I thought I'd need it. It seemed to have worked. Do you like it?"

"I love it, Leslie! It's probably your best one yet. Your teacher is gonna love it. Do you need me to come to your class and model it off for you?"

"Oh, would you, Sarah? That would be perfect! I know exactly how to put up your hair, and what to do with your make-up, and—"

I tuned her out, knowing that she didn't really mean for me to listen. Smiling, I picked up a few of the stray items laying around and put them away, waiting for her to wind down.

"Did you hear me?"

"What? Sorry, I was tuning out the planning portion. Was there something important said after that?"

She laughed, "I just asked what happened while I was gone. Did you regain any more memories? We didn't get a chance to talk at all during lunch."

I brought her my notebook and let her read the dream. When she finished, she turned back to me, obviously planning to gather as much information as possible before actually figuring anything out.

"What happened after he read it?"

"After? Ummm..."

Her eyes widened. "Sarah, what happened before and while he was reading it?"

I blushed, remembering him catching me and cuddling me. "!"

She started to grin, "I only understood that you tripped and I thought I heard that he caught you. What happened? Slower this time!"

I took a deep breath, focusing on my speed, "I tripped on the porch and he caught me and then I fell asleep on him while he was reading the dream…"

"Yes!" she shrieked. "It's about freakin' time, girl! Now tell me everything!"

I laughed and started from when I walked and saw him standing on the porch and how my heart had beat faster. I ended with the kiss and how it had felt like a current was running through me.

She was practically bouncing as I finished. "I knew it!"

"Knew what?" I asked, thoroughly confused.

"Sarah! Don't you get it? You've fallen in love with Jareth King! Moreover, your memories are tied to him directly! Think what that could mean!"

"Are you suggesting that we met on that night?"

"That's exactly what I am suggesting! He probably forgot it, too! If your memories are tied to him and he's trying to give them back toyoubutisn'tmentioningitatall—"

Leslie!" I shouted over her rising thoughts, "slow down and figure it out calmly!" I laughed, curious as to what she was saying.

"Alright. Maybe, whatever traumatizing thing you're trying to remember happened to him and so his memories of it are blocked even stronger than yours. Or maybe," here her eyes widened comically, "he remembers it perfectly and is trying to get you to remember so that you guys can be together again! That is soooooo sweet!"

I busted up laughing. "Leslie, I don't think he's the type to wait for seven years before looking for the girl he knew for one night!"

Her face fell a little, "you're right… damn. I was hoping it would be romantic like that. Nevertheless, you have to admit, it _is _a little weird that he is so obviously in love with you so quickly! And the fact that his crystals activate these memories, and how you feel like you can trust him regardless of the fact that you just met him!" she paused for a moment. "Besides, how do you even know it was just for _one _night?"

I smiled at her, "because if it had been any longer than a night, I would have told you about it, remember? I told and still do tell you everything, especially at that age."

"Oh. Yeah, I forgot about that…."

I just shook my head and walked toward my room, the crystal still clutched in my hand.

Sarah, wait!"

"What?" I turned around.

"What do you think? Are you in love with him?" she asked me gently.

"I don't know," I sighed, "all I know is that I am more attracted to him than any guy I've ever met. He matches up with my basis for comparison, I guess."

"Who's that?" she asked, cocking her head.

I opened my mouth to respond and shut it again, "I don't know, Les. He was tall and blond, that's all I can remember."

She smiled, "well, I guess we've got plenty of time to figure it out, right?"

I nodded, "I'm going to bed now, okay?"

Alright, I'll finish up out here with a few notes on the dress and then I'll head to bed, too. See you in the morning," she smiled.

"Yea, see you tomorrow. Night."

"Night."

I slipped into bed and set the crystal on my pillow next to me, sinking back into his arms as I drifted to sleep.

I woke up the next morning with the crystal pressed to my lips.

**AN: there, what did you guys think? Is it moving too fast? Too slow? Honestly, how was the kiss? It's my first one and I have no idea how I did. I don't have a basis for comparison. I've never been kissed, haha. Anyways, review, please? And seriously, feel free to chew me out for anything I did wrong here! I gotta learn somehow! And just to clear something up, she's sinking into the memory of being in his arms, not his actual arms, haha.**


	12. As the World Falls Down

**AN: So, this chapter didn't turn out _at all_ the way I was expecting it to the first time around, and then it didn't turn out exactly the way I expected this time around either, but whatever, I'm happier with it this way than the way I had planned, haha.**

**Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize from somewhere other than this story does not belong to me. Anything you recognize exclusively from this story, I do own. And anything that is completely random and new and doesn't make any sense? Well, we'll just blame that on the muses. ;) enjoy!**

I felt oddly relaxed for the rest of the day, even during the quizzes, when they usually stress me beyond measure. I was no longer as irritated by Jareth sitting next to me in classes, despite some of the rather less than pleasant things I said to him. At one point, during English, I looked up to find him watching me. Unable to help myself, I blushed and turned away, but I could have sworn I saw him smile as I did. After class, Mr. Dirksen asked me to stay for a moment, telling Jareth to inform my teacher that I might be a little late. Jareth nodded and winked at me before leaving the room, making me blush a little.

"Yes, Mr. Dirksen?" I asked politely.

"I just wanted to thank you for being such a good sport about knocking him into shape. I'm sure that if it weren't for you, he would have 'F's all through the year."

I laughed, "Oh, believe me; it wouldn't be because he doesn't know the material…"

He looked at me slightly puzzled, "what do you mean?"

"Nothing, it's just that he finishes the homework faster than _I_ do."

Mr. Dirksen looked speechless, "is that so?"

I laughed again, "Yea, sir, it is. I was surprised, too. I gotta go to class, though, so if you are done with me, I suppose I will see you tomorrow?"

He smiled kindly at me, "Yes, Williams, you may go."

"Kay thanks! Bye!" I tossed over my shoulder as I left the room.

The rest of the day passed mostly in a blur, except for a few moments during each period when I would look up and find myself being scrutinized by piercing, mismatched eyes, causing me to blush and look away quickly as my mind involuntarily snapped to the night before and the crystal in my backpack. When the day was over, I headed home, wondering why I had to like such an arrogant bastard. I sighed as I opened my door, thanking the gods that it was the weekend so that I could sort out my feelings in relative peace.

As usual, I pulled up two chairs and got out twice the amount of supplies before opening my book to the proper page. I listened for a knock on the door and was puzzled when I didn't hear one. Shrugging, I started to work, positive that he was just running late. A few minutes later, I stopped, wondering why he wasn't here yet. Shaking my head, I forced my attention to my work, but couldn't help glancing up at the clock every few minutes until finally, I gave up trying to concentrate and sat back, genuinely worried about him. From what I knew of him, he wasn't just the kind of person to ditch on someone without telling them… even if he never stated that he would be coming over every night, it had become a ritual of sorts in the last few days and now that it had stopped, I couldn't help but be a little worried. What could make him this late, I wondered, glancing at the clock and noting that it was almost forty-five minutes past the time he usually got here.

"Calm down, Sarah," I muttered to myself, "he's probably just doing some kind of workshop or after school sport or something…" Why then, did I feel as though he wasn't okay? Was I just looking into this a little too much? I needed to call Les… she would tell me what the hell was going on…

Deciding, I picked up the phone and dialed Leslie's cell number.

"Hey, girl, what's up?" she answered.

"Don't laugh."

"Ummm… Okay?"

"I'm sitting here alone, doing homework and I can't concentrate because I am worried…" I mumbled.

"Oh, that's adorable. And you said you hadn't fallen for him!"

I growled.

"Alright, alright. Calm down. Is it the kind of worry where you just get out of routine and then feel like you're missing something? Or is it the worry you had that day in grade school when you came to find me and I had broken my ankle?"

I tried to remember what that worry had felt like, "no…" I said slowly, "it's not either of those… it's more the second one, but I don't have that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. It's almost like he's not HERE, I mean, in this… reality?" I finished weakly, knowing how weird that sounded.

"Oh, Sarah, if you don't have a sick feeling, he's probably just somewhere running an errand or stuck in a conversation he doesn't want to be in," she soothed.

"For forty-five minutes?" I asked, skeptical.

"Remember Ollie?"

I grimaced, "Yea, I remember Ollie."

Ollie had been someone in high school who could drag you into a conversation no matter how hard you tried to avoid one. Once you were caught, the only way to get out was to wait him out (nearly impossible, I only managed it once and Leslie was with me) or to fake an emergency. You know that cheerleader that blabs on and on about her nails? That would be a girl version of Ollie. It was awful.

"So, what do I do?" I asked.

She sighed and I could hear laughter in her voice, "Well, since you really can't concentrate, if I were you, I would take a break off from homework and do it when he gets there, probably tomorrow. It's up to you, though. Good luck, girl, I gotta go. Love ya!"

"Thanks, love you too, Les," I sighed, hanging up the phone. I left the homework out and went to grab the crystals. I set them out on the carpet, laid down in front of them and tried to figure out which was which. Oddly, I could pick out the one from the kiss easily, but the rest were a mystery. I lightly brushed my fingertips over one of them and the words from the first night floated through my head. I reached out to touch a second one and heard lyrics, different from before.

"_As the pain sweeps through,  
Makes no sense for you.  
Every thrill is gone.  
Wasn't too much fun at all,  
But I'll be there for you-ou-ou  
As the world falls down."_

I recognized it immediately as the third verse and could hear it in my head, playing while a feeling of security swept over me. I closed my eyes, and drifted to sleep curled on the floor with the crystals,

_I was in the ballroom again, but this time, I had to find him and every time I caught a glimpse of him, someone dragged him away. I stood there, all alone in the middle of the room and I began to notice the faces around me for the first time. They were cruel, almost as though they knew what I was doing and were mocking me for it. I searched frantically for Jareth, but I couldn't find him anywhere. The people were advancing on me, surrounding me, jeering at me. I started to push at them, but they pushed back and before I knew it, I was on the ground and shoving at the hands that grabbed at me. The hands stopped, my vision cleared and I saw Jareth standing there. I realized that it was him grabbing me, trying to help me and I was pushing him away. He had stopped, but the look of sorrow on his face was too much to bear as he turned around and walked away. I knew in that moment that he had given up on me, stopped trying to save me, to comfort and love me. I began to cry, finally understanding that I could only push him away so much before he stopped trying to reach me. The people around me began to smirk, and then to snicker, then they were all laughing at me and I lay there on the floor, positive that Jareth would hate me very soon, if he didn't already. _

"_Sarah, Sarah, Sarah!" the voices mocked._

"Sarah! Sarah, wake up!" I felt someone shaking me awake. I couldn't help the sobs that escaped me as I realized that the reason Jareth hadn't come over as usual was that he had given up on me. In the moment I realized I wanted to try us out, he decided I wasn't worth it anymore. Why?

"Jareth…" I whimpered, "I'm sorry…"

"Sarah! Come on, pet, wake up! I'm right here!" the voice penetrated my head, then the scent. I forced my eyes open and found myself upright in the arms of a very worried looking Jareth.

"Jareth?" I whispered.

"What is it, luv?" his face looked concerned and relieved.

"You gave up on me…" I whispered brokenly.

The expression on his face turned pained, "Not yet, precious."

The fog in my mind started to clear and I began to separate dream from reality. Leslie had said he was just running an errand… He was here now. There was something I needed to tell him, something about him giving up…

"Jareth. I had another dream… about you."

He just looked at me for a moment.

"I was in the ballroom, but this time I couldn't find you. I was looking everywhere, but every time I would reach you, you would get pulled away. The people around me were jeering at me and I began to push at them to get through, but they just pushed back. Someone pushed me down so that I fell and I think I blacked out for a second, because the next thing I knew, I was pushing hands away from me, with my eyes still closed. Suddenly, the hands stopped and as I opened my eyes, I realized that the hands had been yours."

I began to cry again, "you had such a deep look of sorrow on you face and I knew in that instant that I had pushed you away one too many times, as you turned and walked away. I'm so sorry, Jareth…" I closed my eyes, sobbing again, "I am so sorry that I push you away again and again. I'm just so scared. I don't know what the weird feelings are that pop up whenever you're in my presence or thoughts.

"And you are in my thoughts, almost constantly. When you aren't here, I can't help but wonder where you are, what you are doing. I am more connected to you than I am to anyone, including Leslie. When something majorly bad happens to Leslie, I know something isn't right. When you were gone earlier, something very mild, I knew you were irritable, and I thought maybe it's me you were mad at. I don't understand what any of this is, but the thought of you giving up on me…" I went limp, the determination gone, "it kills me…"

I felt his arms tighten on me and realized that that was the longest speech I had ever given him.

"Sarah," he said, "Sarah, look at me, luv." His fingers cupped my chin in the next moment and I knew that I had no choice but to open my eyes.

He was staring into my eyes as soon as I opened them and I could see something in them, something that although I didn't recognize it, brought an answering emotion bubbling up in my eyes. His breath caught and he pulled me in closer, brushing the tears from my cheeks, "I am not mad at you, I have not given up on you, and no matter how often you push me away, I will always try one more time."

With that, he leaned down and brushed his lips against mine, bringing my mind only to thoughts of him. I couldn't help it when my eyes closed and I sighed as heat ran through me, starting where his lips made contact with my own and radiating outward to cover every inch of my skin. His mouth left mine after only a few seconds, but as I opened my eyes, I could tell that it had affected him the same way it had me. His wrapped his arms around me and I felt carefree for the first time since I fell asleep in them.

Unable to help myself, I began to sing softly, "There's such a sad love, deep in your eyes, a kind of pale jewel, open and closed, within your eyes. I'll place the sky within your eyes. There's such a fooled heart, beating so fast, in search of new dreams, a love that will last, within your heart. I'll place the moon within your heart. As the pain sweeps through, makes no sense for you, every thrill is gone, wasn't too much fun at all… but I'll be there for you—ou—ou as the world falls down. Falling… as the world falls… falling in love. I'll paint you mornings of gold, I'll spin you valentine evenings, though we're strangers 'till now, we're choosing the path… between the stars, I'll lay my love… between the stars. As the pain sweeps through, makes no sense for you, every thrill is gone, wasn't too much fun at all… but I'll be there for you—ou—ou as the world falls down. Falling… as the world … falling… falling… As the world falls down…. Falling… falling….falling… Falling in love… as the world falls down… falling… falling… falling in love… as the world falls down… makes no sense at all… makes no sense at all. Falling. As the world falls down… falling. Falling. Falling in love… as the world falls down. Falling. Falling in love… falling in love. Falling in lo-ove. "

I noticed that his arms had tightened around me almost painfully and I knew that somehow, that song meant something to him, something beyond the words themselves. Maybe it was the fact that I had finally trusted him with it. He looked down at me, his gaze penetrating into my soul, and I felt something overpower me. It felt as though I had been laid open in front of him and he had seen everything there was to see about me, as though he was a part of my essence. I couldn't help but shiver a little at the sensation.

"Oh, Sarah…" he murmured, "You have no idea what you just did, do you?"

I shook my head, still reeling.

"Of course you don't," he replied, "It's time to get you to bed, come on. It's been a traumatizing day for you."

I felt him lift me in his arms and carry me to my room before sitting me on my bed. He crouched down and slipped my shoes and socks off, then stood and took off my jacket and necklace, looking at it for a moment before setting it aside.

"Do you have pajamas?" he asked, gently gesturing at my clothes.

I shook my head.

"Would you like to sleep in that?" he asked.

I looked down, and then shook my head before I had time to overanalyze. I didn't want to sleep in these clothes and I was still too shell-shocked to get ready for bed on my own, so I might as well let him help. I knew he wouldn't try anything. He stepped close again and reached slowly for my belt buckle, undoing it and slipping my jeans off before moving to my shirt. His fingers began to undo the buttons and then he stopped.

"Sarah, where are your shirts?"

I stared at him for a moment and pointed at my dresser. He touched a drawer and I nodded, so he pulled out an over-sized t-shirt and walked back over. His fingers began to work on the buttons again and he slipped the shirt off, his eyes on my face the entire time. I slipped my arms into the shirt and he pulled it down over me until it fell to mid-thigh. I reached up and pulled my hair out of the collar, automatically. He lifted me into a standing position again and pulled the covers down. Then he settled me on the sheets, pulled the blankets up to my chin and turned to leave.

"Stay," I whispered, "please," unsure of what was still happening. He paused in the doorway before taking another step and I felt an odd pain in my chest for a moment, almost like rejection. Immediately, he spun around and walked back to the bed, sitting down on the edge and reaching out a hand to stroke my hair. I freed my arms from the covers and held them out, inviting him in. I knew he was hesitating and tears welled to my eyes as I dropped my arms down, sure that I screwed up earlier; usually I was the one shunning physical contact.

"What am I to do with you, pet?" Jareth sighed, shrugging out of his coat and kicking his boots off, leaving him in jeans and a t-shirt. He slipped onto the bed in front of me, laying on top of the blankets and gathering me into his arms, "I won't leave. Go to sleep, luv."

Finally giving into exhaustion, I fell asleep to the sound of Jareth humming a song that vaguely brought back memories of a room full of stairs.

**AN: What did you think? Some people were saying put a major memory in there, but I figured that this would work better. Who can guess what happened there? Anyone? Anyone? Put your guesses in a review! I'd love to hear some theories! (and I refuse to be one of those authors that says "review or else you'll have to wait." so don't let that stop you!) It'll probably be a little while before the next chapter is up, like I said, this threw off my entire outline for at least a few more chapters. See you guys next time! (or in a review, *cough cough* hint hint) ^_^ thanks for reading!**


	13. The Morning After

**AN: Sorry it took so long to get up, guys. I'll try to get the next one up quicker, now that my outline's back on track.**

**Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize from somewhere other than this story does not belong to me (Unfortunately, that includes Jareth... damn). Anything you recognize exclusively from this story, I do own. And anything that is completely random and new and doesn't make any sense? Well, we'll just blame that on the muses. ;) enjoy! **

I woke up the same way I went to sleep, curled in the arms of the man who owned my heart… _where did that come from?_ Still, I couldn't help but nuzzle my way deeper into his arms, loving the way his hands rested on my waist and shoulder, holding me up against him. I could feel his arm beneath my head, pillowing it and his body was so much warmer than my own. The rise and fall of his chest was soothing and I was close enough to hear his heartbeat, slightly faster than mine, but still very strong. Happily, I slipped back to sleep.

When I woke again, it was clear that I wasn't the only one. I knew Jareth was beginning to wake up as well because his breathing had changed and his heart had sped up just slightly. I kept my breathing even and relaxed. I would have only one shot at this. If I freaked out, he would leave and I didn't want that. I felt him begin to move a little, tightening his arms around me, then burying his nose in my hair and inhaling deeply. I kept my body relaxed and repeated my actions from the last time I awoke, nuzzling into him. I took a deep breath, mimicking him, and tightened my grip on his shirt.

He froze and I moved again, rubbing my cheek against his throat and letting out a small purr. When his hand flexed on my shoulder, I tilted my head up to him and opened my eyes, knowing he would be watching me.

I whispered a single word, knowing he would hear me, "Jareth."

He stared at me for a moment.

I stared back, then reached up slowly and wrapped my arm around his neck, pulling myself up and brushing my lips against his.

He let out a small sound of pleasure, but otherwise held completely still.

I pulled away and looked at him, hoping he would help me out a little.

"Sarah…"

I took a deep breath and pressed my mouth against his again, letting my lips part just a little to breathe him in. I let my eyes slip closed, focusing on the way he felt, his body completely contrasting to mine and relaxing myself into his frame, allowing my body to think for once instead of my head. _This is what I want, this is my dream,_ I thought, and the next thing I knew, he had tilted his head slightly and dragged me up a little higher, his mouth pressing more fully against mine and causing my body to rub against his, making me shiver a little.

He tilted his head a little more to the side. I carefully tilted my head to the other side and felt him smile in approval. Then, he slowly opened his mouth a little wider and I felt my jaw begin to follow his before I hesitated for a minute. Immediately, I felt teeth come down on my bottom lip, making me gasp in slight pain before he slowly licked the hurt spot. I shivered and my grip on his hair tightened slightly. He slid his tongue in further and stroked mine, causing me to tug rather roughly on his hair. He growled and I couldn't help but moan. It was the single most erotic sound I'd ever heard. He paused in the kiss for a moment, pulling away.

"Sarah," he growled in my ear, "don't defy me."

I couldn't help the little whimper that escaped me when he did that. He smirked and kissed me again, picking up where he left off, teasing my tongue.

I mimicked his motions, letting my tongue trace over his and was delighted when he groaned into my mouth. He slowly pulled his tongue back a little, and then brushed it up against mine before pulling back again. I slid my tongue after his and he licked my lips as I did. Before I realized it, my tongue was in his mouth and he was sucking on it, causing me to moan and whimper, wriggling against him. His hand caught my hip, holding me still as he pulled away again.

"I think it's time to stop, at least until you are dressed," he spoke, breathing heavily.

I blushed as I realized that at some point, he had slipped his hand under my shirt and was now gripping my bare waist. He chuckled and squeezed with that hand, causing me to jump and blush brighter.

"Or, we could continue… it's up to you, luv," he whispered. I shivered, knowing that I needed to get up, but wanting so very much to stay in bed, partly because I was only in a long shirt and boy-shorts…. But partly because I liked the way he felt wrapped around me. I buried my head in his shoulder, trying to decide and heard him chuckle again, effectively making it harder to think.

"Jareth…" I growled, hearing his breath catch, "not helping the decision-making process!"

"But this will," he murmured before slipping out of bed and yanking the covers off me, baring me to his gaze. I blushed again and whimpered at the look in his eye. His eyes ran over me hungrily, pausing on my chest and causing me to blush wildly as I realized that my nipples were standing completely at attention. His gaze ran lower, I glanced down to see that my shirt had ridden up almost to the bottoms of my breasts, revealing my entire stomach and the boy-shorts I had worn to bed the night before.

"I stand corrected; this isn't helping the decision-making process at all. At least, not the decision to get up. It seems to be helping the one to ravish you quite a bit." He murmured, the thickness of his accent alone making me bite my lip, much less his words. His eyes narrowed and he smirked, "I've made my decision… you have three seconds to make yours."

I yelped and leapt out of bed, racing for the shower, grabbing my jeans on the way by. I could hear his calm voice, counting behind me, "two…"

I made it in, slamming the door as I heard him say 'three.'

I heard his laughter from the other side of the door. Blushing, I locked the door before getting in the shower. The hot water did very little to calm me, working only until I thought of Jareth, which is to say, not very long at all. When I had been in there long enough to gain some semblance of control, I turned the water off, dried off and got dressed. I took a deep breath before unlocking the door. I slipped quietly out, wondering why the house was so silent and why I felt a dull ache in my chest.

There was a crystal sitting on the counter with a piece of paper.

_Pet, _

_I swear I will be right back, I'm just changing clothes._

_J._

_P.s. Leslie is home, I thought it would be good to warn you. She is asleep while I write this, but don't be surprised if she suddenly pops up._

I smiled and moved to make some breakfast. Sure enough, about halfway through, I heard a zombie approaching the coffee pot. I grabbed a cup, tossed in several ice-cubes, and poured some before she got frustrated that she had to walk across the kitchen and back. You could say it had become routine over the years… either she woke up to a pot of coffee…. Or someone died. I did my part to keep the world safe. She grabbed the cup from me, downed it in a single swallow, dumped the ice-cubes and poured a second cup. I just shook my head, still not sure how she could do that.

"So, Sarah," she started, innocently enough, but I automatically cringed, "Nevermind…. What happened to make you all jumpy when I say your name…?" she grinned evilly. I whimpered, knowing that I had effectively screwed myself over.

N-nothing…" I stuttered.

"Nice try, girl, but not convincing enough!"

I swear that the only thing that could wake that girl up faster than a couple cups of coffee was the promise of making my morning a living hell.

I sighed, opening my mouth to tell her at least part of it, even though she would probably get the whole thing out of me anyways, but the knock on the door had me bolting to open it, glad that Jareth had come back at that moment. I flung the door open and threw my arms around him, "Thank you for saving me from Leslie!" I cried.

"Ummm…. You're welcome, I guess."

The voice wasn't Jareth's… oh… shit…

I looked up into the eyes of a very confused telemarketer. I immediately dropped my arms and stepped back, embarrassed, "Sorry, I thought you were someone else," I said quietly.

He laughed, "It's fine. After all, it's not every day that you find a beautiful young woman throwing herself at you when she answers the door. Especially not in this line of work!"

I covered my face with my hands, mortified. I heard Leslie step up behind me, "Did you seriously just launch yourself at a telemarketer, just to get away from my curiosity? Now, I've got to know what happened while I was gone…" she said behind me.

"Well, Les, what do you think happened while you were gone?"

She looked at me for a moment, then her eyes got wide, "Did you finally realize you are in-love with him?" she squealed.

"Les… no." I'm not in-love with Jareth King, "I might however have mentioned not wanting him to give up on me, happy?"

"No. but it will do for a little while."

Jareth chose that moment to come walking up the driveway.

"Besides, Sar, if you won't tell me, I'll just pry it out of him," she jerked her head down the driveway, but the poor telemarketer was in the way and looked more confused by the second.

"She's talking about the guy coming up the driveway. There might be a lot of screams coming from this house, so if someone looks like they are gonna call the cops, stop them. I'm afraid I'm too nervous of her," I hooked a thumb in Leslie's direction, "to buy anything and she's too hyped up on the latest gossip about her best friend," I gestured to myself, "to buy anything either. And there's no real point in asking him," I pointed down the driveway, "either. If it had been another day or you were selling duck tape, I might have bought some. As it is, I suggest you go find someone else to sell your stuff to. Make sense?"

He nodded, stunned, and turned around, walking down the driveway and getting in his car.

Jareth made it to the door and I moved aside to let him in, hoping that his arrival would keep the questions at bay… he slid against me, allowing his hand to trail across my waist after he passed and this time, instead of trying to ignore it, I let myself drift into it and shiver.

When I looked at Leslie, her mouth was open and she looked flabbergasted, "not in-love with Jareth King, my ass!" she yelled.

I groaned, "Leslie, I don't know how I feel completely yet. I've never been in love. If being in-love means you think of someone a lot, then, yea, I'm hopelessly in-love with Jareth King. But honestly, I know that's not all there is to it, okay. Because if it was, I'd be in-love with you, too. Make sense?"

She shuddered, "Yea, I get the picture…. It would also mean that you are in-love with Mr. Dirksen… gross!"

"Exactly!" I said, shutting the door and going back into the kitchen to finish the food, thankful I hadn't turned anything on. I finished up with the omelets I was cooking and placed one in front of Leslie, one in front of Jareth and grabbed a fork as I sat down with the third one.

"Jareth, I warn you that we might get interrogated," I murmured as I passed him, sitting in the chair next to him instead of Leslie. He just nodded.

Sure enough, as soon as the plates were in the sink and we were all in the living room, she rounded on us, "SO, Sarah, Jareth…. What happened while I wasn't here yesterday? Because let me tell you MY side of the story. I'm at work, minding my own business, when suddenly I get a call from Sarah. Wondering what's up, I answer. 'Don't laugh,' she says. So I say okay and then she confesses to the fact that she is sitting alone at her desk trying to do homework and being distracted, because she doesn't know where you," she pointed to Jareth, "are. She says that she feels as though you aren't in this reality. I tell her to calm down, that you are probably running an errand, and tell her to stop doing homework because it is the weekend and she has a few days. She agrees and we hang up. What happened next? Don't bother lying…"

"Well," I continued from where she left off, "When I got off the phone, I decided to take a nap. So I'm asleep and I start to have this bad dream, it's like a reenactment of the ballroom, but I wind up trying to find Jareth, getting shoved down, and then watching Jareth walk away from me because he was trying to help me up and I was pushing his hands away. I started sobbing. I'll leave it to him to explain what happened there after that."

Jareth glanced at me, almost as if asking permission to tell everything.

"Go ahead; she'll just pry it out of me later."

He chuckled and began, "I was running an errand, something that came up suddenly and I realized that I had no way to contact either of you, so I hurried through it as quickly as I could. Unfortunately, it took longer than expected and I didn't manage to get out of it until almost three hours past the time I was expected. I came over rather quickly and knocked on the door. No one answered so I knocked again.

"Suddenly, I heard sobbing coming from the other side of the door and without thinking, I flung it open, worried that something had happened. I saw Sarah, on the floor, curled into a fetal position and sobbing in her sleep," he looked at me, slightly pained, "and I rushed to her side, trying to wake her. She wouldn't snap out of it and started saying, 'Jareth, I'm sorry… I'm so sorry,' I picked her up so that she was standing and told her to wake up again. She came to, and whispered my name. Immediately, I asked what was wrong. She told me that I had given up on her and I replied with 'not yet.' She looked relieved and told me about the dream.

"When she was finished, she was sobbing again and saying that she thought I was mad at her while I was gone. So, I pulled her close and told her that I wasn't mad at her, I hadn't given up, and no matter how many times she pushed me away, I would always try once more," he finished, looking at me to pick up the story from there.

I pulled my eyes away from him and looked at Leslie, preparing myself for a scream… or at least a wild jumping, "and then he brushed his lips against mine," I blushed and avoided their eyes as I said the next part, "and heat ran through me. He pulled away and held me close and I couldn't help but begin to sing. I sang that song that I remembered and when I finished…" I looked at Jareth, unsure if I could say the next part with him in the room.

"I probably already know what you felt, but if you want me to leave, I can," he said, standing up.

I smiled, "no, you can stay. Just no making fun of me after…"

"Of course not. Not if what happened is what I think."

"When I finished," I picked up where I left off, "our eyes locked and it felt as though he could see everything about me, as though he knew my most intimate secrets, things I don't even know. It felt as though he had seen everything there is to see, as though he looked straight into my soul and accepted me…" I drifted off, remembering that feeling of pure vulnerability and safety.

I caught Jareth smiling out of the corner of my eye, a soft smile, as though he was remembering as well.

"Wow," Leslie breathed, "Sarah, you have got to be the luckiest girl anywhere, above or underground."

Jareth's eyes snapped to her, "Where did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" she sounded puzzled.

"That part about above or underground."

"Her mom used to use it all the time," I answered for her, "it's become something we use, because we heard it all the time when we were younger. Why?"

"I've heard it often. I didn't know that many people here knew it. It's mostly a saying from where I come. That's all," he said quietly.

We were silent for a moment, then, "What happened after that?"

"Leslie…" I groaned. "That's all there is to it," I lied.

She was about to look disappointed, I could tell, when Jareth spoke up, "actually, not quite all."

I glared at him as Leslie smiled, "I'm going to kill you…"

He just wound his arm around my waist and pulled me closer, placing a kiss on the top of my head.

"Spill."

I winced at the look on Leslie's face.

"Okay, okay!" I took a deep breath, wanting to get it over with quickly. "I was still pretty shell-shocked from the whole 'looking into my soul' thing, so he decided it was time for bed. He pulled off my shoes and jacket and asked me if I wanted to sleep in the clothes I was wearing. Automatically I said no," Leslie began to grin, "and he was a perfect gentleman, keeping his eyes on my face the entire time and helping me change into a long shirt," I cringed backwards at the demonic grin on her face.

"And then he started to leave and I asked him to stay and then he almost didn't and then I felt sad but he changed his mind and then I asked him to lay down with me and then he did and then he put his arms around me and then I fell asleep."

"Sooo… he spent the night?" she asked, deceptively calm.

"Technically, yes."

"What about waking up?"

Oh yea... that part of the day… ummm…. I blushed.

Her eyes narrowed, "Sarah… Don't defy me."

My eyes widened and I whimpered. "Well, we sort of ummm…. Made out?" I hid my face against Jareth.

"About time!" she screeched. Jareth chuckled and I buried my face deeper into his side.

"I agree," he murmured, causing me to blush brighter as he stroked a hand over my hair.

"And then?"

"Well," Jareth picked up where I left off, "I mentioned that we needed to get up and she needed a shower, and she seemed reluctant to do so, so I may have yanked the covers off of her and threatened to ravage her if she didn't. It seemed to work," he shrugged.

I moaned against his shirt, knowing that I shouldn't have let him start talking.

Leslie was silent and I was scared. I peeked up and looked at her.

"Is this true, Sarah?"

I almost denied it, but frightened of the look in her eyes, simply nodded.

She looked like she was about to lose it, so I buried my face in Jareth's shirt again, prepared for a scream.

"You had better fall in-love with him soon, Sarah, because if you let him get away… I will personally wring your neck…"

I risked a glance at her and found her smiling at me, threateningly, if that's even possible.

I nodded a little and felt Jareth's breath catch, making me smile.

Our 'happy' little powwow broke up and I moved to clean the kitchen while Leslie hopped in the shower. Jareth followed me in and helped. As we finished them, arms slid around my waist and lips brushed my neck, "Sarah?" he asked as I leant back against him, "What are we right now?"

"What do you mean?"

He sighed, "Are we together? Or simply friends still? You call the shots right now."

"Oh. Well, we are definitely not just friends anymore… do you want us to be together?"

He nuzzled my neck, "very much so, luv."

I purred as he nuzzled me again, tilting my head to the side to give him better access, "As you wish..."

I felt him smile against my neck.

"So, how do I introduce you?" I asked.

"what do you mean?"he murmured against my throat.

"it's just… I don't know what to call you. We are not lovers and even if we were, it would be too intimate a title to use in public."

"Honey, just call him your man. Everyone'll get the picture!" I heard Leslie's voice from across the room, making me jump.

Jareth chuckled. "How about you simply admit you love me and then call me the love of your life?"

"What do you mean, 'admit'?" I growled.

I saw Leslie leave the room out of the corner of my eye.

"Well," he teased, "you are the one who asked me to not give up on you. That means that you must have something beyond toleration for me."

I sighed, "True, but is it love? I don't think so, I'm sure that if I fall in love with you, I'll know it…"

"When," he murmured quietly.

"When?"

"When, not if. I intend to do everything in my power to make you fall in-love with me," he clarified quietly.

"Jareth…"

"Sarah, I will believe your best friend over you… just this once."

I sighed, knowing that he wouldn't listen. I started to pull away, but he held me still. I turned and opened my mouth, "Jareth, let me—"

His mouth came down on mine, effectively shutting me up as I turned in his arms to get better access. The electricity started up again and I felt his hands run up and down my back. He pulled away after a moment, letting me catch my breath and moved down my jaw line, pausing at my ear to whisper into it, "I love you, Sarah Williams, and I don't plan on letting you get away this time."

My eyes widened and then his mouth was on mine again and I could feel the emotion he had for me, boiling over and yanking on me, looking for an answering one. Just as something was about to snap in me, I broke the kiss, panting heavily and looked at him in shock.

"You… love me?" I asked, overwhelmed.

"From nearly the first moment I saw you" he replied, still holding me against him.

"Jareth…"

"Now you see why I won't give up on you?" he breathed.

I nodded, feeling a sense of wonderment filling me up. Jareth loved me. I wished I could say it back with the same amount of surety. I could feel tears run down my face as I realized that I could easily be in love with him and not know it. I'd never even kissed anyone but him.

"Jareth, how do you know you are in-love with me?" I asked, hoping to put a match to my feelings.

He pulled me into my room and laid down on the bed, holding his arms out to me. I crawled into them and he started talking, "The moment I saw you, I knew that I wanted to know you better. When you pushed me away, I became even more curious. When I showed up at your door a week ago, I was hoping to find out more, but you told me to sit down and shut up, then you refused to do more than acknowledge me when I interrogated you. I prod at you to watch you flare up, admiring the passion you express and the way you move less self-consciously when you are angry," he cut himself off and all of the emotion in his eyes closed off, scaring me.

"Jareth…" I whispered, amazed at what I had seen before he closed himself off.

He simply looked at me, smiled slightly and started to get up.

I held him still and began to speak, "If that's what love is, I'm at least halfway in-love with you already. I just haven't ever felt it before, or put words to it. The truth is, whatever my basis for comparison is, you match it," I finished with a sigh, looking into his eyes and letting him see the confusion, the vulnerability, the need, and the love if it was there.

Lightly, I pressed my lips to his for a second, "I trust you with everything that I am…" I murmured softly, hoping for the emotion to come back into his eyes.

He watched me for a moment, and then tugged me so that I was straddling his waist, "I know," he whispered, pulling me down and kissing me.

This time, he was extremely gentle, coaxing a response from me rather than demanding it and I could feel how foreign it was to him. I followed his lead, and gripping his shoulders, rolled us over slightly so that I was mostly underneath him, relaxing when he rolled the rest of the way, his lips never leaving mine. His body didn't quite settle on me, choosing instead to hover over me, his arms under me bracing himself up. He lightly opened his mouth and I slipped my tongue forward, hesitantly, happy when it brushed against his and he twined it lightly around mine, teaching instead of dominating. When my tongue brushed around one of his incisors, he moaned a little and I could feel him make a physical effort to stay in the submissive.

I threaded my hands into his hair and held him to me, eyes closed as I explored his mouth. My fingertips slid down and brushed over his jaw, his eyelids, then further back to fondle his ears. He moaned and I pulled away, allowing my hands to rest on his shoulders once more, breathless at the emotion I had felt during that kiss, very little of it coming exclusively from him.

"That is how I know I'm in-love with you, Sarah Williams. You are the only person I submit to," he murmured, opening his eyes. If I were standing, I would have staggered from the weight of his gaze, filled with an emotion I'd only ever seen once, in my parents' eyes. Slowly, it retreated until all I could see was an echo as he looked at me.

"Falling… falling in love…" I whispered.

"Only with you," he said quietly.

I smiled.

**AN: Wow. I had no idea that a single chapter could be so hard to write when the story goes off the outline. I must have rewritten this thing four or five times and I'm still not sure I'm happy with it, haha. I now have a MUCH greater appreciation for those authors that use the characters' refusal to cooperate as an excuse for the time between updates! Whatcha think? Ready to shoot me yet? I'm kinda surprised I haven't gotten any flames... Review! ^_^**


	14. Second Thoughts

**AN: Sorry it's been so long. This is what I've got so far of the future chapters. I know it's really short and basically filler, but I'll explain more at the end. For now, enjoy!  
**

The rest of the weekend passed quickly, Jareth spending much of it over at my house, except for the nights, and before I knew it, Monday had rolled around. I walked into the classroom, setting my stuff out on my desk. A moment later, I heard someone open the door and walk in. I glanced up, not particularly surprised to see Jareth there. He walked up to me, pulling me in for a quick kiss and a hug. I melted into him and pulled away an instant before the door opened. I arranged myself at my desk, staring down with a blush as Mr. Dirksen walked into the room.

"Good morning, Williams, King," he said with a nod of his head.

"Good morning, Sir," I replied, still not looking up from my work.

I felt Jareth slip into the seat beside me, but kept my gaze on what I was doing. I wasn't sure how to act around him now that we were at school. It was almost funny actually, being worried that he would change from the person I had spent so much time with over the weekend. Still, I couldn't help myself. Classes started a few minutes later and I threw myself into them, feigning ignorance when it came to Jareth's mood. It was getting blacker as I turned down his attempts at affection. I still wasn't sure how to act, if I even wanted everyone to know we were together.

_No, that's not it…._ I thought, _it's that I don't know how to accept his advances now that we are in a public setting. If it was just Les, I would be perfectly comfortable and in fact, was earlier this weekend, but now that I'm around people I don't know extremely well, I'm lost._

Lunch came around, with Jareth obviously irritated and me still extremely self-conscious. Leslie met us outside the doorway, took one look at us and yanked Jareth off to the side, already knowing what was going through my head. I sighed in relief, knowing that she would tell him why he needed to back off.

A boy struck up a conversation with me, so I obliged him until Les and Jareth came back. It was almost cute, the way he kept blushing whenever I looked him in the eye. I found myself actually enjoying the conversation. I decided to give him a confidence booster, so I flirted extremely lightly with him, giving him attention more than an actual come-hither. I laughed at some of the stuff he said, causing him to blush again and I nearly commented on it before I remembered that I did the same thing when it came to a cute guy and it embarrassed the hell out of me when they said anything about it.

I mentioned that I thought he was cute but that I had someone I was interested in already. Then, before he could feel the sting of my words, I sneakily pointed out a cute girl that had yet to stop staring at him since class started and suggested that he talk to her. I knew her by association, and she was sweet.

Satisfied, I smiled when he thanked me and nodded. I thought back to what I knew of her schedule, "A lunch date would be perfect, maybe this Saturday?"

He nodded and I grinned at him, "Get going, then. See you later."

I heard a growl from behind me, then hands gripped me, yanking me back against a hard chest. I felt a mouth brush against my ear, "Mine," he growled, then spun me in his arms and his lips came crashing down on mine. I tried to squirm away at first, conscious of where we were. He pulled back in an instant, staring into my wide eyes. His were blazing, with possessive anger or want, I wasn't sure. His breathing was heavy and his grip tight, "Sarah," he growled again, eyes still searching mine. He must have seen what he was looking for, because an instant later, his mouth pressed to mine again and I couldn't help but shiver against him, feeling the heat in his lips as he opened my jaw with his own, plundering my mouth thoroughly. This was the first time he'd kissed me like _this._ I couldn't help the slight moan that escaped into his mouth at the feeling of his fist tangled in my hair and his mouth stealing my very breath.

He pulled away after a moment, a triumphant smirk gracing his lips as he glanced around. Dazed, I followed his gaze, immediately noting that everyone was staring and idly wondering why I had any objection to going public. My eyes wandered back to his and his smirk grew wider at my sudden blush as I realized that we had just made out in the hallway. I looked away, but he pulled my face back to him, pressing his lips once to mine before whispering in my ear again, "Mine, Sarah. Only mine."

I shivered again, knowing I should be freaked out at the sudden possessiveness he was showing, but honestly just being turned on by it. I smiled, "Jareth, are you honestly jealous of the boy I was giving advice to?" (who was, by the way, nowhere in sight.)

He growled, "Extremely. I only heard the last part, so you can't blame me."

I just shook my head and smiled at him again, standing on tip-toe and brushing my lips over his again, "I'm with you, even if I was nervous about showing it."

I noticed Leslie out of the corner of my eye, grinning like a Cheshire.

I sat in my bedroom that night, my fingers pressed to my lips and a crystal in my other hand. I thought back over the day. Jareth had taken me to a little pond with ducks in it. He had a picnic that someone had passed him as we walked out the door and we had enjoyed a while in the sunlight. When we got back, we did homework as usual, but he had to go, so we said goodbye.

I sighed as I lay on top of my covers. I knew it would be all over the school the next day. I was considered somewhat of an ice-queen when it came to dating and Jareth was the new student. Oh, yea… it would be EVERYWHERE. The teachers would even know. I still couldn't feel regretful, I was too happy. I placed the crystal carefully on the nightstand and closed my eyes, drifting to sleep.

**AN: Sorry. I'm having a lot of trouble working on this lately. The person who was helping me with the plot and keeping my outline on track is gone from my life, in a really bad way that is making me and my parents press charges against him. I'm alright, but I'm having some trouble thinking of the ideas that he gave me without automatically rebelling and throwing them out. I really kind of hate him right now, but I'm trying to push through it, because I started this story without him and I intend to finish it without him. That's also why the name and my pen-name have changed. Thanks for sticking with me!**

**-Blue.  
**


	15. The Truth

**AN: I'm back. I'm really sorry it took so long. See AN at the end for a bit more info. In the meantime, to anyone still interested, here's chapter 15...**

I was right. The next day was absolutely buzzing with gossip. Immediately, the dirty looks started and I found myself pressing closer to Jareth in the hallways, afraid that one of the girls was going to attack me. He, of course, seemed entirely amused by this, as did Leslie, that is, until she pointed out that I wasn't the only one getting dirty looks. After that, Jareth would pull me a little tighter to him, a smirk on his features as he walked with me around campus. I was still shy about publically displaying my feelings, but Jareth certainly wasn't and I found I truly didn't care as long as he started it.

Lunch passed quickly and it wasn't long before we were on our way back to Leslie's and my house. Leslie started telling stories about what she'd heard so far in the hallways concerning Jareth and I. Some of them had me giggling. Some of them had me really irritated and possessive. Jareth seemed to like the latter. At least, if the way he was looking at me every time I kissed him was any indicator.

When we made it there, I'd managed to calm myself down a little and Leslie changed the topic, out of nowhere, hardly giving me a second to switch mindsets, "So, Sarah, I've managed to talk to you quite a bit about your memories, but Jareth, you haven't been included, so, what's going on? Do we have a game plan for regaining her memories?" she directed the question to Jareth.

He laughed, "Not a thorough one yet, no. Mostly we are just figuring out what brings the memories, still."

"So, it all seems to be attached to the crystals. Sarah, have you told him the theory about the play?"

I thought back. Had I mentioned it to Jareth? I shook my head, "So much else has been going on, I forgot about it."

She turned to Jareth, "When I first found out about all of this, I helped her remember the tune to that song she sang to you. This was on the night you helped me with the bookshelf. I knew the tune because when we were younger, there was this one night that she changed on."

Jareth nodded, "The night she gave her little brother Lancelot. The one she can't remember."

"Right," Leslie went on, "from that night forward, I would catch her randomly humming the song, but she never realized she was doing it."

Jareth leaned forward, obviously interested.

Leslie smiled, "When she remembered the tune, she hummed the rest of it and I got this really weird feeling, like it was an extremely special song. It seemed almost like it pulled at my soul, but it wasn't meant for me. It was really weird… anyways, after it was over, she told me about her memory. I listened and then commented that it sounded an awful lot like a book she had always carried around with her. we talked about it for a minute and finally remembered the name. It was actually a play, called 'Labyrinth.' She was completely in-love with the story, but I only saw it once or twice after that night."

Leslie took a breath to keep talking and Jareth took his chance to speak, "You said you had a reaction to the song? Do you think you have something to do with that night?"

I shook my head, answering for her, "Leslie was out on some summer vacation the night that happened. Her parents owned a cabin in the woods out in the middle of nowhere and they went there every once in a while. We wouldn't be having this problem if I had been able to call her, because she would know all about it. She came back a few weeks later and I guess I had already forgotten about what happened that night."

Jareth nodded, "I see. Go on Leslie."

"Right. Anyways. We figure this out and then Sarah goes all loopy on me and zones out. When she comes to, she mentions that she had another memory, that would be one about when that night 'officially' started, I guess. It was about her acting out a scene from the play in the park with her dog, then she realized what time it was, rushed home, fought with Karen and ran up to her room. Then, after they had left, she realized that Lancelot was missing from his shelf. That's when she came back to earth and I questioned her."

Leslie paused and looked at me, so I took it up from there. "We came to the conclusion that whatever happened that night is tied up with you, your crystals, and that book. Leslie had a theory that you were actually there and that's why it comes back when you are around, but I pointed out that it had been years since that night, so you wouldn't have taken so long to come after me if that was the case."

"I see," Jareth murmured, "So, if this is tied in with the book, where is it?"

"In a shoebox on the top shelf of my closet, hidden behind some old acting gear."

"Well, what are we gonna do about it?" Leslie asked, obviously excited.

"Nothing yet," Jareth decided, glancing over at me. "let me think on it a little. I have a few ideas."

After that, he excused himself, saying that he had things to do before he went to bed. I kissed him goodnight and went to finish my hour's worth of homework.

The next morning, before English, Jareth pulled me aside. "Sarah," he said seriously, "I think I know how to get your memories back."

My eyes widened.

He nodded, "I've been thinking about it and it's all tied in with that book and my crystals. If we put the two together, it might bring back your memories. Would you like to try?"

I nodded eagerly, "Definitely! I really want to know what you have to do with my memories!"

He smiled, "Then we will do it after school. I will be slightly late, because I have an errand to run, but I will meet you at your house, if that's acceptable?"

I cocked my head, "Why wouldn't it be, king?" I kissed him before the teacher came in and we sat down.

I could hardly make it through the day, I was so excited. I rushed through my tests, for once not caring how I did. Finally, I made it home. I rushed to my closet and pulled down the 'special-box' that Karen had helped Toby make for me before I moved out. It was a very prettily decorated shoebox. I smiled as I remembered when he gave it to me. quickly, I looked through it until I found the little red book I was looking for. I pulled it out, replaced the box, grabbed the cloth-bag of crystals, and brought them all to the living room. I laid them all out in rows, smiling as I noticed there were many more than I had anticipated. He had been giving me at least one a day for the past three weeks. Oddly enough, I could still pick out the one that I traded a kiss for. My fingers strayed to the book, opening it about halfway through, the memories suddenly drowning me as I began reading.

_I was walking through the forest, starving. "ugh, I'm so hungry," I said out loud. _

"_Sarah?"_

_I glanced back at Hoggle._

"_Here…" He held out the most perfect peach I had ever seen and I took it, biting into it with a murmured word of thanks._

_Almost immediately, I begin to feel odd. "This peach tastes strange… Hoggle," I looked at him, "Hoggle, what have you done?" _

_I was searching. Searching frantically. I didn't know what for, except that every time I saw that elusive face, I became more frantic._

_The next feeling was of being held in someone's arms. We were dancing and when I glanced up, I recognized the Goblin King as my partner. He began to sing and in that moment, I felt embarrassment and glanced frantically around for something to use as an escape. I spied the clock on the wall and my mind grasped onto it like a lifeline. I had to save Toby, I had to get away from Jareth before I did something that would mortify me. Quickly, I spun out of his arms and raced to the wall. I grasped a chair, and with a last look over my shoulder, I threw it at the glass, breaking the bubble and sending me tumbling down._

The memory changed as my hand flipped the pages, eagerly reading,

_There were pieces of stone stairs and arches floating around in a dark emptiness. Jareth walked out from behind one, looking regal and kind in white. He was dressed in breeches, boots, a poet shirt that hung open to the middle of his chest, and an amazing fur-trimmed cloak that looked as though it was woven of owl feathers, opposite from the dark colors he had worn before now._

"_Give me the child," I spoke, knowing my objective, even if I didn't like it._

"_Sarah, beware. I have been generous up until now, and I can be cruel." He spoke, advancing toward me._

_Bewildered, I simply looked at him, "what have you done that's generous?"_

"_Everything!" he nearly cut me off, sounding irritated now as he began to slowly circle me. When he spoke again, his voice was slightly softer, "Everything that you have asked, I have done. You asked that the child be taken, I took him. You cowered before me. I was frightening." His voice began to raise slightly, "I have reordered time. I have turned the world upside down, and I have done it all for you. " his voice turned almost pleading, " I am exhausted from living up to your expectations of me."_

_As I looked closer I could see he was telling the truth, his face looked tired and his eyes had bags under them already. I felt sad that I was the cause of it, he shouldn't have to look this way._

_But he continued talking, "isn't that generous?"_

_I nearly asked what he wanted of me, but I was frightened of what he might say, of how he might break character more than he already had. Wondering what to do, I stared for a moment before lines came to me, seeming much longer ago than a mere ten hours. I began to speak, my voice growing louder as I did, "Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered… I have fought my way here to the castle, beyond the Goblin City." Confidently, I began to walk toward him, a part of me delighted when he backed away, "For my will is as strong as yours, and my k—"_

"_Stop!" he commanded in a whisper, making me jump, "wait." Like me, his voice gained strength as he spoke, "Look, Sarah. Look what I'm offering you," he held up his hand and a crystal appeared on his fingertips, "your dreams."_

_I kept my eyes on his face and continued, feeling as though I was in a dream, "and my kingdom as great," I advanced again._

_He backed away, slowly, speaking when I wavered, "I ask for so little," he kept the crystal extended to me, "Just let me rule you… and you can have everything that you want."_

_I paused for a moment, wanting to consider his offer, but not wanting to seem weak. "and my kingdom as great?" I murmured, stalling. If I stayed, I could have anything I wanted. I could send Toby home, I could get away from Karen, I could… could… I could feel his triumph rising as I hesitated, and he extended his hand to me further, offering the crystal, a look of hope on his features. "damn. I can never remember that line," I murmured, still stalling. If I stayed, I could say I wanted Toby to go home, if I stayed I could… let him rule me? Did I want to be ruled? And could I trust him to do as I asked and send Toby home?_

"_Just fear me, love me, do as I say… and I will be your slave."_

_I stared at him and my mind caught up, he wanted me to love him? I was only fifteen! _

"_My kingdom as great—my kingdom as great—" In the moment when he last spoke, I lost the next line. I struggled through it, realizing that as soon as I said it, this would all be over, I would leave the Labyrinth. I couldn't help but be sad, sad for my friends who I would never see again, sad for myself because I would never come back, and even sad for The Goblin King, who might be sincere in his offer._

_The words dawned on me as I thought, and I spoke them in wonderment, "You have no power over me. You have no power over me!"_

_His face crumpled in what looked like agony and sorrow as he tossed the crystal to me. When it popped like a bubble against my fingers, he transformed himself into a white barn owl. I could hear my words echoing all around me as I heard a clock strike the thirteenth hour. I was in my living room, safe and sound. The white barn owl that was Jareth flew out an open window and the clock tolled a thirteenth time. I glanced at it quickly to find that the hour hand was pointing to the twelve._

"_Toby!" the realization hit me and I raced upstairs, flinging open the door to my parents' bedroom and slumping in relief as I saw his little form curled up in the crib. "Here you are," I grabbed the stuffed toy and tucked it against him, "I'd like for Lancelot to belong to you now," I whispered before I walked back to my room and sat at my vanity, mentally exhausted. I began to put my make-up and music box away. I picked up the little red book that started my adventure and carefully placed it into the drawer._

_I caught a glimpse of Ludo standing behind me as he spoke, "goodbye, Sawah…" quickly, I turned to look, but saw nothing. _

_When I turned back, Sir Didymus was there, "And remember, fair maiden, should you ever need us…"_

_Hoggle stood up from behind my bed, "yes, should you need us… for any reason at all—"_

"_I need you, Hoggle."_

"_eh, you do?" he sounded surprised._

"_I don't know why, but… every now and again in my life, for no reason at all, I need you. All of you." When I said that, I couldn't help but include Jareth in it. Despite everything I had done to him, I needed him. I needed him for, at the very least, a basis for comparison._

"_You do?" I nodded, "well, why didn't you say so?" Hoggle cried and I heard it from behind me this time, instead of the mirror. As I spun, smiling, I glimpsed a white barn owl, sitting on the tree-branch outside my window, and then I was engulfed in my friends, including the wild gang. For the rest of the night, I forgot about Jareth, losing my head while trying to keep it firmly attached._

I slammed back into myself and lay there, shaking. It was all so real. It couldn't have happened, though. I reached out to pick up the crystal he gave me that I kissed him for and as I touched it, it transformed into a peach and I heard a knock at the door. Shocked, I slowly got up and walked to the door, the peach still in my hand. I knew already that it wasn't Leslie, she lived here so she wouldn't have knocked. That left only one other person.

I opened the door and found the person I both dreaded and needed to be here. "You… you… you're him, aren't you? you're the Goblin King!"

**AN: After re-reading the reviews you guys sent me and thinking about whether I could finish this or not, I have at least two or three more chapters written out (mostly from bits and pieces I wrote before I went on hiatus), but I don't know if anyone is still following this or not. I really hate when authors hold reviews over readers heads as a reason to update when they already have the next chapter written, but this once, I'm afraid I'll have to. I need to know if there's anyone still interested or if I should just dump the story entirely. Review, please, so I know if it's worth it to continue!  
**

**~Blue.  
**


	16. Showing Off

**AN: Thank you. I'm so glad to know people want me to continue. Thanks especially to _MusicOverMatter_ for your review, it was exactly what I promised, here's the next chapter! I know, the majority of this was only mentioned briefly in one of the previous chapters (chapter 11), but I've been planning on putting it in and it doesn't fit anywhere else.**

Jareth's eyes snapped quickly over me, taking in my state and the peach in my hand. Quickly, he swept me up into his arms and carried me to the couch, settling me in his lap with my legs off to one side and my torso nearly touching his. I wanted to push him away, but my hand tangled in his shirt instead, the other slung limply across my lap, still holding the peach.

"You weren't supposed to remember like this," he said, sounding frustrated, "I was supposed to be here when you remembered… so that this didn't happen!" he sounded as though he was talking mostly to himself.

"Jareth?" I murmured.

"Yes, pet?"He replied.

"Answer my question," I commanded, even as I curled closer for the comfort he'd so readily supplied these last few weeks.

He sighed, "Yes. I am the Goblin King."

"Damn," I whispered.

He almost chuckled, I could feel it in his chest, but he stayed tense, "What?"

I got up and began pacing. "Why does my life have to be so screwed up? To begin with, my basis for comparison is imaginary. Secondly, the person that I find myself in-love with," I heard him suck in a sharp breath at that, but didn't pause to analyze what I was saying, "happens to be the aforementioned imaginary basis for comparison. Thirdly, I find out that, in addition to one and two, not only is the imaginary basis for comparison real, he is the person that has been helping me regain my memories of him. Finally, I figure out all of this and not only does it not bother me very much, but also I find myself actually enjoying the fact that it's all real! What am I supposed to do?" after a long pause, I spoke again, voice almost a growl, "that wasn't a rhetorical question…"

He stood, pulled me against him, and murmured in my ear, "A few things. One, relax. I won't hurt you," I took a deep breath and tried to do as he said. "Two, have a bite of peach. It'll help the shock," he picked up my hand with the peach still in it and held it to my mouth until I took a bite before continuing, "Three, dance. Like we did that first time," he cradled me and began to move gently, "Four," he breathed into my ear, accent heavy, "Remember. I'm in-love with you, too."

I smiled softly, realization cascading over me as I said the words a second time, this time in wonder, my fingertips on his shoulder coming to rest against his cheek, "I love you."

With that, he crushed me to him and kissed me heatedly, one hand holding my waist and the other cupping my chin. I felt the peach fall from my fingers as they came up to curl around his neck and tangle in his hair. I felt my body automatically press further toward him. After a mere moment, I felt his tongue teasing my lips into parting. His hand moved to the back of my neck and tangled in my hair as he coaxed my tongue into dancing sensually. I moaned and followed his lead, delighted by the emotions he was pouring into me. I whimpered and felt him smirk against my mouth. Once satisfied, he pulled away and let me breathe for a moment, face buried in my throat, inhaling my scent, pieces of me falling and clicking into place as new memories connected with old.

"You don't know how long I've wanted to do that with you knowing who I am…" he murmured into my ear, causing a delicious shiver to go up my spine. He felt it and smiled, slowly running his hands up and down my back.

"Since the first time we kissed?"

"No, try again," he replied, beginning to dance once more, easily moving me around the small room.

"Since the moment you walked into the classroom?"

"No, further back."

I thought back, "I don't know."

"Time passes differently in the Underground; years go by while only a few days do here. When we first met, I was young by fae standards, no older than the equivalent of seventeen or eighteen, though I glamoured myself to seem older, and I've wanted to kiss you from the moment you wished Toby away."

I stared at him for a moment, then couldn't help but begin to laugh, remembering Leslie's theory about why my memories were linked to him. I felt him begin to pull away and forced myself to stop for a moment to explain, "I'm not laughing at you! I'm laughing at something else, I promise. Just wait until Leslie gets home! She'll freak!" I began laughing again about halfway through my speech.

"I am not sure you should tell her who I actually am…" he said with a frown.

I sobered, "why not?"

"Because she may not keep it quiet…"

I snorted. "Jareth, Leslie will keep quiet about it. She's been my friend since preschool and my best friend since first grade. She knows all my secrets.

"If you insist, I will trust your judgment and not prevent you from telling her."

I tightened my arms around him and kissed him, "Thank you. You have no idea how much that means to me."

He smirked mischievously, "enough for another kiss?"

I laughed and pulled him in again for a slightly longer kiss. When I pulled away again, I happened to glance at the clock.

"Oh, no…" I moaned.

"What? What is the matter, Sarah?" Jareth immediately asked.

"I'm supposed to model Leslie's dress off in twenty minutes! She'll be sooo pissed!" I panicked.

"Precious, relax."

"How? We'll never get there in time!"

"Take a deep breath and close your eyes." I tried that… it didn't work. "Another one. Synchronize your breathing to mine."

I tried that… and then I got _really_ dizzy for a moment and fell against him, opening my eyes. We were standing outside of the place where Leslie's competition was, halfway across town.

I looked up at him… "You poofed us here!" I accused.

He chuckled, "Yes, I 'poofed' us here. We wouldn't have made it in time otherwise."

I smiled, "well, thanks. I'll see you in a few, I gotta go get ready. Bye." I kissed him quickly and ran inside to find Leslie. She was nearly panicking, but threw the dress at me before turning back to the make-up and hair styling stuff she was rearranging. The green dress was the same on I'd modeled for her that night I'd kissed Jareth for a crystal. I slipped it on over my clothes and took them off under it, having very little trouble. I sat down without saying a word and kept my mouth shut until she asked me a question, which she didn't.

Almost exactly twenty minutes later, she stood back to admire her handiwork. I glanced at the mirror and gasped a little, "Wow, Leslie, you've really outdone yourself this time…" I said.

I looked closer into the mirror and saw a woman looking back. Her hair was pulled up, making her neck look longer and calling attention to the only piece of jewelry she was wearing, a silver necklace that had an emerald woven into its center. The up-do Leslie had chosen was very simple, yet surprisingly elegant; it was pulled up into a spiral on the back of the woman's head and secured in place with a little comb. Wisps framed her face, softening it and coupling with the make-up to make her look slightly ethereal. The main thing that popped out was the eyes. They seemed to be two completely different shades of green instead of only slightly different. The green dress was the same on I'd modeled for her that night I'd kissed Jareth for a girl in the mirror smiled and that completed the effect. I was amazed.

As I leaned back and started to stand, I saw Hoggle standing in the mirror and smiling with his hands in his pockets. I smiled back and he gave me a thumbs up. I spun around and asked Leslie for some shoes.

"Here, Sarah, put these on. Also, there is a guy out there tonight who is looking for someone to style the next big thing. That's why I'm so nervous. I _really_ want to impress him tonight…"

"Don't worry, Les. I'll make it work," I winked.

She laughed a little. I smiled and started to go out. "Hey, Sar?"

"Yea, Les?"

"You will tell me why you looked thoroughly kissed when you got here."

I smiled, "I was actually planning on it this time."

Her eyes bugged out and she squealed.

I laughed and walked out to the line of girls modeling the dresses. I was coming out last, because I was last in the alphabet. I looked at the girls ahead of me and categorized them as though I was a judge. I'd spent enough time around Leslie to know the fashion dos and don'ts, even if I hardly ever followed them. Only one girl really stood out in my mind, but that was because she was wearing a baby pink top with a shiny orange skirt and a wide, yellow belt that looked like it was made of crocodile skin around her waist. It looked awful as a combination.

I smiled and watched as each girl went out and came back in, wondering if Jareth was out there watching also. As I thought that, I saw a crystal roll into the room and make its way toward me. I picked it up and cupped it in my hands very quickly, just in case he could see through it. I didn't want him to see the outfit yet. I held it up to my ear and it produced a voice, very quiet, so I knew he must be hiding our conversation from Leslie, "Sarah, why is it black around the crystal?"

I stifled a giggle and replied, "Because I don't want you seeing the outfit yet…"

"I see… very well then, I shall turn the observation part of the crystal off."

"Promise? I really want to wait until you can get the full effect of seeing it on stage…"

"Yes," he sounded slightly exasperated, "I promise. There, it's off."

I smiled and held it up to my ear like a phone, earning weird looks from the girls around me.

"How long before you come out? I am sitting with Leslie and she hasn't stopped critiquing the dresses yet."

"Welcome to my world," I muttered, "I should be out in a few minutes. I have two or three more girls ahead of me. Be prepared for a major freak out from Les when this next one comes out…" I grimaced as the girl with the crocodile-skin belt went out.

"Thanks for the warning," he commented dryly as I heard a small shriek in the background.

I laughed almost silently. "I've gotta go, Jareth, I am up in a moment."

"Very well," he sighed, "Leave me alone to be tortured by your roommate… I suppose I'll survive."

"Jareth," I said, sounding serious, "You survived for god only knows how long as king of the Goblins. I'm sure you can survive my pesky and lovable roommate for a few minutes. Besides," I grinned, "you were the one who poofed us here in the first place. Good luck."

He laughed, "and to you, luv."

I smiled and pulled the crystal away from my ear, tucking it into my palm as I stood and brushed the wrinkles out of my skirt. A moment later, my name was called, followed by the name of the person that designed my dress, Leslie. I walked out from behind the curtain and knew instinctively that there was a fae here other than Jareth.

Nonetheless, I found my eyes immediately drawn to Jareth. I felt my body move slightly differently; almost seductively, as I caught the look he gave me. He loved the dress. I walked to the end of the stage, and on an impulse to show whom I 'belonged' to, brought my hand with the crystal up, smiling at him. He smiled back and I tossed the crystal out over the audience, knowing whom it would go to. The moment that his hand touched it, I turned slowly around and walked back down the stage, automatically finding the Fae and locking eyes with him. He was a judge, must be the guy looking for a new fashion, because I knew all the other judges. A moment later, an odd chill went up my spine as he deliberately stared back and inclined his head to me, almost submissively before breaking eye contact and looking over the style again. When I made it back behind the curtain, I quickly changed into regular clothes and walked around to sit with Jareth and Leslie. They were sitting with a seat in between them, presumably for me. I slid into it and my hand found Jareth's.

He smirked at me and leaned over to whisper in my ear, "Trying to make the judges jealous?"

I smiled and leaned back to whisper in his, "Trying to make the other fae jealous."

I nearly laughed at the look on his face when I admitted I knew there was another fae in the room.

"We need to talk about this soon; a human shouldn't be able to pick us out of the crowd so easily. That doesn't mean I'm not proud of you, though. Excellent job with the modeling and that was a very diplomatic way of saying, 'I'm taken by the Goblin King, so piss off,'" His silent laughter landed against my ear, "He was looking at you as a potential toy," the laughter abruptly disappeared and he growled a little.

"Down, boy. They're announcing the winner," I giggled.

"—and the winner of this semester's competition is… Leslie Brook!"

She squealed for the second time that night and went up to accept the prize money.

"Also," the announcer went on, "I am happy to inform you, Miss Brook, that you have been asked to be a stylist for Mr. Hadsen's clothing chain!"

Leslie's grin got wider, if that was even possible. "Thank you! I would just like to say that I never would have pulled it off if it weren't for my roommate, best friend, and model. Thanks, Sarah!"

I laughed and gave her a thumbs up.

She dragged Jareth and me out to a bar after that and I was sure I'd had a little too much to drink, judging by the way I was giggling and stumbling. I was asleep before we made it home, curled happily against Jareth's side in the back of the cab.

**AN: Thanks for reading, guys! The next chapter SHOULD be up soon, but I still have to edit it a lot. I had two ways the story could go and changed my mind halfway through writing, so, go figure... XD I'll try to hurry though. Review, please! They keep me going!**


	17. Kidnapped

**AN: Sorry this chapter took so long. My grandma was in the hospital. Ambulances and everything. Turns out, it was treatable, but it took a while to figure it out. She's home and doing fine, now. Thanks for your patience! And sorry about the overlaps in the POV's. I hate changing POV in a story, it screws up my characterization, but it was necessary here. Enjoy!  
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**Disclaimer: Don't own, yada yada yada. Except Raiko, Leslie, and the troll. On with the story!**

Voices were speaking and they stirred me awake. It was dark still and I was extremely irritated, especially because of the headache I had. I knew I'd drank a lot last night, but I didn't realize I'd had that much. I listened for a moment, gathering my strength to get up and ready for school. Now that I was awake, there was no point in falling back asleep.

"She's here, my lord. I found her," it sounded like Igor from Frankenstein…

I wondered if Les had left the TV on again…

"So you have her? Is she conscious, yet?" The deep voice was full of unspoken secrets and dark promises.

"No, not yet, but she should be, soon."

"Good, insure that she doesn't escape. We wouldn't want our champion running off, now, would we?"

"Yes, my lord. I mean, no, my lord."

I felt my lips twitch at the corniness of the movie. Who groveled like that anymore?

"So, I see you're awake… Good, that means we can begin," spoke the Igor voice.

"I'll be there shortly," said the other.

I opened my eyes and moved to get up and turn the TV off, but found to my horror a grotesque monster leaning over me. I swallowed a scream, refusing to voice my terror. Instead, I found my eyes narrowing, "What do you want?"

The thing laughed.

* * *

LPOV

I sat on the couch, for once up before Sarah, feeling slightly guilty for the way I had interrogated her in front of Jareth a few days before. Usually, I wasn't the kind of person who did that, but Jareth had enlisted my help and I couldn't say no. He was good for Sarah, whether she admitted it or not. He wanted me to play the bad-guy, so he could be the good-guy. It was irritating, but so was her dancing around the topic of being in-love with him. I sighed, remembering the betrayed look she had sent me after I finished with them. She probably didn't even realize she had done it.

If that kiss in the hallway was any indication, progress was being made, though. A few years ago, she'd hardly considered a first date with a guy, but now she was kissing him in public. That was a long ways to go for it. While pondering this, I suddenly got an awful feeling and knew without a doubt that something was wrong with Sarah. I checked her room, and after seeing that she wasn't there, slipped on my shoes and went to get Jareth. Over the weekend, he'd showed Sarah and I his house, so I knew where to go. I opened the front door to leave and jumped to find him already there.

"Sarah's—"

"In trouble, I know. Where was she last?" he demanded, tapping his foot.

* * *

JPOV

I waited impatiently for her answer, but it came faster than I expected, "In her room, laying on the bed. But she's not anymore."

I brushed past her immediately, knowing that there would be something left that only I could find. Whoever took her would be sure of that. Sure enough, the moment I walked through the door, I found the object, tainted slightly with Fae magic. I grasped it and felt the magic crawl up my spine, causing an automatic shiver. They had used one of the lesser Fae to plant this and steal Sarah. Of course, that in itself told me something. It was a Fae I knew, one who's power signature I would recognize. I growled and focused on the object. It was imprinted with the rules of my own game. I had to choose to solve a labyrinth or to give Sarah over to them. If I chose the first, I would have thirteen hours to solve it, but if I failed, my own Labyrinth would no longer obey me. She was the greatest in the land and tied to my will, because I had beaten her. If I were to let a lesser maze defeat me, she would no longer respect me.

The second part hit me; if I controlled the Labyrinth because I had beat her, so too did Sarah, but with no knowledge or experience, they could manipulate her. I had to run the labyrinth, not that any thought besides that crossed my mind, but I now had a second reason to do so, one more politically acceptable should it go to the High Fae Court. Grimacing, I gathered my power and formed a crystal, placing it on the snowglobe I'd picked up. Within an instant, both were gone. I had accepted the challenge. I turned on my heel, making up an excuse as I did, ready to tell Leslie.

"I'm coming with you," She spoke the moment I walked out of the room.

"Absolutely not," my voice was hard. The last thing I needed was a mortal tagging along. There was more to the maze I'd be running than met the eye and I needed to be on my toes.

She stood to her full height and something in her eyes changed as her features hardened, "Goblin King, I'm coming with you."

* * *

SPOV

The thing laughed and something in me snapped, "I suggest you do as I say. You appear to be a lesser creature, so I doubt that you will be extremely valuable to your master. He could probably find a hundred more like you. If he wants me to cooperate, I will demand a few things in return and one of them could easily be your death, so I suggest you stop playing tough." My voice was cold and low, almost a hiss. The thing swallowed its laughter.

"You are just a mortal. You have no sway with my lord."

Memories were coming back at the word 'mortal.' Something from that night….

_The party was winding down and everyone but my three closest friends had gone home. "Sarah…" Hoggle sounded sad, "I guess this is goodbye….."_

_"For now, yes," I was slightly sad at the thought, as well, but I couldn't understand why the trio looked so down._

_"No, fair lady. It is quite probably good bye for ever…. Your memories of us shall fade and you will go on with your life as usual… the Lady Labyrinth will see to that."_

_"Don't be silly," I shook my head, "How could I ever forget you! How could I ever forget any of you! I'll remember, it's impossible not to."_

_"Sarah…" hoggle sighed, "just remember, should you ever need us… please, don't hesitate to call."_

_I nodded happily, glad that they were dropping the nonsense of not remembering. We said our goodbyes and they faded away as they touched my mirror, their reflections lingering slightly longer than they._

I held back a gasp as I came to myself again, focusing and cataloging, storing it away to ponder later and thinking about the present. This thing looming over me was a fae, probably from the troll class. That would explain the stench. I couldn't help but stare at it while I reconciled myself to the fact that _all_ my fairy tales were real, not just the ones I'd experienced. Suddenly, the words to the song came floating through my head, _'I'll paint you mornings of gold, I'll spin you valentine evenings, though we're strangers till now…'_

I focused on them, thinking of Jareth. A shock went through my system as I encountered a barrier and couldn't remember the rest of the words. I cried out in pain at the feeling of my heart being severed in two and noticed the troll leering at me.

* * *

LPOV

There was always something about him, something I couldn't place my finger on, but now I knew. Sarah's book was real, probably planted by Jareth himself. My head was reeling as I felt his power, suddenly and without warning. He could crush me without a thought and I would be powerless to stop him.

He walked out of Sarah's bedroom and I spoke before I lost my nerve, "I'm coming with you."

"Absolutely not."

He wasn't going to compromise, so I played my trump card. I stood as tall as I could and thought of helping Sarah, feeling my jaw harden, "Goblin King, I'm coming with you."

His eyes widened and I had a moment to enjoy it before he asked a simple question, "Why do you call me that?"

"Because it is your title…" I was confused, why else would I call him that? Another question, how did I know that?

"How do you know that, though?" He asked the very question running through my mind.

"I just do. When I look at you, I know there's something weird about you and just then, when you walked out of Sar's room, I knew who you were," I said, not sure if that would make any sense to him.

He stared at me for a moment, then nodded sharply, "Then let's go."

"I can come?" I was a little shocked, thinking that he would ditch me anyways.

"yes. Let's go," He tossed me a crystal and the moment I caught it, I knew I was supposed to focus on what I would wear. I thought of armor, something I had idly designed a few weeks ago. It was light and flexible, but sturdy. I didn't know what it was made out of, but it fit me like a glove. I looked down at it in amazement. Before I could say anything, he grabbed my arm and we disappeared. I felt a slight wave of vertigo and we were in a giant stone room.

"where are we?" my voice came out confident and I was thankful.

"In my throne room. We have to gather a few things before we set out for the—" He doubled over suddenly, his jaw clenched and eyes squeezed shut.

* * *

JPOV

She was Fae… That explained the phrase 'above or below' that she had used. Her mother must be part Fae. She could find Sarah if I took her with me. They would have blocked my connection to her, because she didn't fully understand what it was, so she couldn't keep it strong. But this girl could find her…. I nodded sharply, "Then let's go."

"I can come?" she sounded surprised.

"yes. Let's go," I tossed her a crystal and the moment she caught it, it popped and she was dressed in light, sturdy armor, fit for running a maze. I caught her arm and we disappeared. We appeared in my throne room.

I was mentally categorizing the objects we would need. She would need a weapon and something to strengthen her latent abilities for a time. I would need to speak with my Labyrinth and see if she knew anything about Sarah's whereabouts. I began to explain this to Leslie when a ripping pain shot through my body, tearing me in two. I doubled over, clenching my jaw and closing my eyes. I heard the girl gasp, but focused on the pain. She was trying to invoke our bond, but they had blocked it, just as I suspected. Through the haze of agony, I could feel her nearby. I knew she was in as much pain as I, because she had made it double-sided.

The pain ceased after a moment, probably when she was unable to focus anymore, and I forced myself to straighten up instead of collapsing onto the floor as I wanted. I forced my jaw open so I could get in air. Opening my eyes, I spied Leslie standing in front of me, her hands on my arms, "Are you okay? Is Sarah okay?"

She sounded surprisingly calm and I nodded, "Yes and no. I'll explain it to you as we move."

She didn't ask questions and simply followed me to my throne.

* * *

LPOV

I followed him quickly. He sat in the throne and indicated I stand by him. Then, he conjured a crystal and tossed it down. A short, scabby man appeared, obviously in the middle of something, because he had a rake and shovel. A fox with an eyepatch and a sword also appeared, riding a dog that bore a striking resemblance to Sarah's childhood pet, Merlin.

"Hoggle," Jareth spoke and the scabby man's eyes snapped to him, "I need you to watch over my kingdom for me. Our lady is in danger and I must rescue her, but I can't take more than one person effectively and this woman has claimed that right." He spoke quickly, but calmly, and I was surprised at how uneventful he made it all sound.

Hoggle nodded quickly, "Do whatever you have to, Jareth. Bring Sarah back in one piece."

Jareth nodded sharply, then stood with a sweep of his cloak, "Sir Didymus, come with me." He grabbed the two of us and transported us to an armory.

The fox, Sir Didymus, immediately moved to the sword rack, "This is what you'll need, something sturdy and light." He handed the sword to Jareth and glanced over at me, "You'll need one of these," he moved to a different rack and pulled a bow, cocking his head at me, "because I suspect your mother was of the woods. You have that look to you."

He handed me the bow and immediately set off to another section, muttering something about strengthening abilities. I glanced at Jareth, "Explain."

He nodded quickly, moving to belt on the sword, "years ago, Sarah wished away Toby. She ran my labyrinth and for the first time in several hundred years, my labyrinth was defeated. I was the last to defeat it and I'd fallen in-love with Sarah, doing something that I probably shouldn't have at the time. I sang her a fae bonding song. After she defeated the labyrinth, she made her forget."

I interrupted, "Who's she? Sarah?"

"no, my Labyrinth. She wanted to give me a chance at happiness. Sarah forgot her adventure here and at the time, was just on the threshold of womanhood and childhood. I couldn't keep her at the time, so I reluctantly let her go. It took me a while to pull myself together and find her again, for by leaving my lands, she rejected my bond and you can't imagine the pain that causes. I went aboveground to woo her and try to get her memories to resurface. It was working and when she sang to me, she unknowingly accepted the bond, tying herself to me as tightly as I'd tied myself to her years previously." We were walking after the fox, now, "Right as she remembered her time here, one of the fae I've met took her. They sent someone less powerful so I wouldn't recognize them and left me a challenge, a challenge to run a labyrinth.

"If I win against the labyrinth, I get Sarah back. If I lose, my own Labyrinth, being the greatest in the land, will no longer respect me for losing to a lesser maze, and will shun my power. If I refuse to run their labyrinth, they keep Sarah, who has also beaten my Labyrinth and therefore has control over it, as much as I do. At the time, she will obey Sarah in the same way she obeys me. Sarah has accepted my bond and in the Labyrinth's eyes, she is my equal and technically, my queen."

My eyes widened, "So, basically, you married Sarah without her knowledge and now they can force her into manipulating your Labyrinth, which you will lose control of if you lose their game."

He nodded, "Essentially. Sir Didymus! Have you found what we need?"

He rode back into view, "Here, my lord." He held out a small pouch and Jareth took it, handing it to me.

"What's this?"

"A way to enhance your natural abilities, since we don't have time to teach you finesse. Take this and do what comes naturally if you have the urge to do something you've never tried before.

Once more, Jareth reached for my arm and we disappeared. We were suddenly at the gate of his Labyrinth and he placed a hand on it, eyes slipping closed. After a few moments, impatience set in and I grit my teeth, focusing on Sarah and knowing Jareth was trying to find her.

* * *

SPOV

Panting, I let go of the words and immediately, the pain went away. The troll cackled again and I glared as I felt someone else in the room, another fae, and I changed my tactic, "Alright. What the fuck is going on here?"

Deep masculine laughter came from the darkness and I turned my glare in that direction, "My dear Sarah—"

"I'm not yours," I cut them off before they could get past it and then stayed quiet, waiting for the rest.

"by now, you've probably realized where you are…" it sounded slightly irritated.

I shook my head, intending to keep all my cards close and play the bitchy ditz to cover how scared I was and how much I knew, "No idea. If this is someone's idea of a joke, it's not funny."

"You are underground."

I raised an eyebrow slightly, glancing around, "Doesn't look like a tomb to me. In fact, I can see sky… right through that window. If you're going to play a prank, you might want to be a little more thorough next time, guys!" I yelled the last part, as though I thought someone was watching from somewhere, laughing.

Someone stepped from the shadows, "Sarah, stop playing these games. You know very well where you are…"

I sighed, glancing over at the sky, "I swear to God, it's not funny after the first initial panic attack."

"Look at me, Sarah."

I glanced over to see a breathtakingly handsome man standing before me. While Jareth was pale and ethereal, this man was the tall, dark, and handsome type. He had black hair, dark eyes, and his skin tone was almost chocolate colored. A few years, even a few months ago, I would have loved to flirt with him, but now, all I felt was distaste. Still, I let that small part of my mind govern me, the part that seemed to know what to do in this situation, even though listening to it made my heart ache, "Whoa. Hi there…"

The man chuckled, "I need you to do something for me, Sarah."

I smiled suggestively, "What kinda somethin'?"

He ran his eyes over me appreciatively and I forced down an angry blush, "I need you to help me defeat the Goblin King."

I felt my eyebrows draw together, even as alarm bells went off in my head, "Who? Is this some kind of RPG?"

The man sighed, "I know not what an RPG is… explain, please."

"Ohhh, so we're set before RPG's were invented. Got it. I can do that. Ummm, so what year is it? I need to know so I can act better," I said excitedly.

He looked at me, puzzled, "you really don't remember a thing, do you?"

I shook my head, "No. I don't know what you're talking about. I remember falling asleep in the cab and waking up here. I must have had waaay too much to drink last night… That would explain the headache and lack of concentration. That's the last time I go clubbing with _them. _Anyways, can you please explain who's who? I mean, I gotta know if I'm a hostage or a princess in a tower. If I'm a hostage, who've I been taken from? You know? And beyond that, are you the good guy or the bad guy? I mean, judging from this 'minion' here," I added air quotations and pointed at the troll, "I'd say you're probably supposed to be a badguy… but whatever. I've seen worse. Seriously, I just wanna go home, take a few aspirin, and go to bed."

He stared for a moment and the part of me I didn't usually listen to was guiding me and cheering at the blank look on his face even as the sensation of being pulled in half increased. A small bit of clarity came over him and he smiled genuinely, or at least, what _would_ have been genuinely if I didn't know the truth. He dropped his voice and spoke as though he was breaking character, "I'm the good-guy, the Goblin King is the bad-guy. You're the love of my life and I'm trying to protect you from his evil intentions. The 'minion,'" I nearly laughed as he did the air quotations, "has been enchanted to look that way and wants revenge on the evil king for it."

I nodded, "I can work with that. Why does the Goblin King want me?"

He smiled, "Because you are gorgeous and powerful."

I let a slight blush creep into my cheeks, "You don't have to say that."

He winked, voice still deep, "oh, but I'm glad to. You are perfect in every way, dear Sarah."

I noticed that he hadn't said 'my' Sarah and held back a smirk, "So, what kind of power? Are we talking, like armies worth of power or more strategic and diplomatic ability?"

"neither. You have magical powers that allow you to control the area in your kingdom. You have a magical Labyrinth that obeys your every command and right now, the evil king is trekking through it, trying to reach and claim you. If he makes it here in thirteen hours, we have no choice but to do his bidding and give up your power and my claim on you."

I grinned stupidly, wishing I had bubblegum to pop and complete the image, "Epic. So, how do I control these 'magic powers'?"

"Simple, you speak aloud to the labyrinth, telling it that you want the Goblin King to die in her clutches."

I raised an eyebrow and made a small sound of distaste, deciding to go all out. The odds were pretty high he'd never seen 'Mean girls,' "Isn't that a little melodramatic? I mean, like, if he is just detained for thirteen hours, wouldn't that, like, do the same thing? I mean, really. Killing him?"

He rolled his eyes, "Fine. Detain him then."

I nodded, "I can do that. Sorry for, like, dissing on your idea, dude. especially if you wrote the script."

He growled, "Just do it."

I raised my hands and rolled my eyes, "Fine, fine! Want me to get dramatic?"

He nodded, "Of course."

I winked and threw my hands in the air, "Labyrinth, heed my command and detain the Goblin King for thirteen hours or until he dies!" Lightning cracked and I jumped, then laughed, "Nice special effects there."

Suddenly, a confused voice sounded in my mind, _"You wish your lover to fail?"_

I barely managed to refrain from jumping, replying silently,_ "No. I wish to keep myself alive and hope that Jareth makes it to me before this man does me harm."_

_"So, am I to ignore the previous order?"_

_"Not entirely. Make it difficult, but insure that he will survive and make it here in time. I want no suspicions being cast upon my beliefs and memory."_

_"As you command."_

The exchange took less than a second, being more in images and emotions than words, and I snapped back to reality, "So, in the mean time, what are we supposed to do? I mean, if we're together, that means you are trying to, like, protect me, right?"

He nodded, "After the Goblin King fails, you are to become queen of your land. He recently killed your parents and as a result, you have had no time to ascend to your throne."

I nodded, "So, what's your name? I'm gonna need to know it for the game."

He smiled, "My name is Raiko and I want you, Sarah."

I blushed again, wondering why he was being so bold. "Raiko… How long have we been, you know, together?"

He raised an eyebrow, "Sarah, we are betrothed. We were supposed to be married today, but the Goblin King forced us into hiding. Tonight was to be our wedding night."

I looked away, "Are they expecting us to, like, act it out? Because I won't go _that_ far with people watching. It's just gross and I'm so not that kinda girl."

He laughed lowly, the sound sending a disturbing tingle up my spine, "No. But they do expect us to act a little friendlier towards each other. For example, relax a little when I come to sit with you."

I did as he said, leaning lightly against him when he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "Do you want me to, like, play my part now or has the game not started yet?"

"Oh, it's started, alright. They've been focusing mainly on the Goblin King, so I've had time to answer your questions. Now, they'll come back to us, so play your part and don't ask questions or you'll ruin the realism of it."

I nodded, then shuddered, "Just don't, like, call me pet names? I totally hate pet names."

He laughed, "Of cour—" he seemed to cut himself off and I knew he was pretending the cameras were on us.

I snuggled closer, "I'm, like, scared, Raiko… What if he, like, makes it through, despite my efforts?"

He pulled me into his arms and I forced myself not to cringe, "Don't worry, Sarah. I'll kill him before I'll let him take you."

I hugged him tightly, "I don't want you to, like, actually fight him…"

"I know. Relax, Sarah. This was supposed to be a night of joy. Focus on here and now."

I nodded and snuggled closer, not surprised, but stifling a shudder when his hand ran up and down my back.

* * *

JPOV

After a few moments of conversing with my labyrinth, I became frustrated, _"What do you mean you won't tell me where Sarah is?"_

_"Because, my king, that is part of the challenge. Once you enter, I can no longer help you. I must hinder you."_

_"What are you saying?"_

_"My queen has ordered me to slow your progress."_

Clarity washed over me,_ "You mean Sarah is somewhere within you?"_

_"Yes, my king."_

_"And she's ordered you to keep me away?"_

_"yes, my king."_

_"Has she been hurt?"_

Her outrage rippled through me,_ "Of course not, my king. I would never allow my queen harm while within me. Even when she was a mere runner I would not harm her!"_

_"I apologize. I was simply inquiring as to whether her captors had wounded her in order to command you."_

_"no, my king. She pretends to be unaware of the situation, in order to keep herself safe. I must make it difficult for you in order to insure that safety."_

_"Where is she within you?"_

_"I cannot tell you that, my king. You have become a runner, but you know the ways through me, so I am unable to tell you. Use the girl."_

I was about to ask exactly what she meant when her doors opened. I glanced back at Leslie, a grimace forming over my face, "We have to go, now. The moment I step within the labyrinth is when the timer starts. We have thirteen hours to beat her or I am unable to enter my kingdom."

"Let's go, then."

I nodded sharply and gestured her in before me.

**AN: R&R, please! It makes it so much easier to write. You guys are the only reason I'm continuing this story.**


	18. Race Against the Clock

**AN: Sorry about this chapter taking so long. I went to Oregon to visit family I haven't seen in years and my mother forbid me from bringing my laptop, so I didn't get a chance to work on this at all until I got back a few days ago. Now, though, I've got a bit more than this written and the next chapter should be up sooner rather than later, assuming another catastrophe doesn't strike and I don't come up with another random idea for an entirely different story (Which has been happening a lot lately).  
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**Anyways: Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize from anywhere except this story. all characters belong to rightful owners, no copyright intended, and the fae song isn't mine either. Not entirely sure the idea behind it is either. Blah blah blah. on with the story.  
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LPOV

I didn't really know what was going on, but I knew I needed to stay on my toes. Moments passed as we walked along silently, in a seemingly neverending hallway. After a few moments, I saw an opening and then another and another, "Which one do we take?"

He glanced quickly over at me, "Your being able to see them will make this easier. We still have a ways to walk, though. Look for a little purple worm with strange hair."

"ummm…. Okay…" We were silent again and I let my thoughts drift to Sarah. Suddenly, I got a flash of thought, _'…Okay, just deal with it. Pretend you have no idea what's going on. Let's see, what usually happens in an RPG?...'_

I gasped and Jareth turned to me, "What's wrong?"

I shook my head, "Nothing. I just caught a flash of Sarah."

"What was it?" He'd started walking faster and I had to jog to keep up.

"She said, 'okay, just deal with it. Pretend you don't know what's going on. What usually happens in an RPG?' That's all I got."

He looked at me, puzzled, "What's an RPG?"

"Role-Playing Game. The title is self-explanatory. I think she's got her captive convinced that she's under the impression that this is all one big game that's being filmed. That her memory hasn't come back yet."

He nodded, "That sounds like what the Labyrinth told me."

"Allo."

I looked at Jareth, puzzled. "What's that mean?"

"Down ere!"

I looked down and saw a little purple worm, "Did you just say hello?"

"Nah, I said allo, but that's close enough. What's going on, kingsy?"

Jareth dropped to one knee, "We need to find our lady Sarah. She's been taken against her will and is being held captive somewhere in this Labyrinth. Do you know where she is?"

"oh that's terrible, that is! 'm afraid I don't know where she is!"

"Do you know where they took her?"

I wondered at that, considering that he asked the same question already, "Said something about a castle, they did. An old one, buried in treachery, they did."

Jareth nodded sharply, "Thank you."

"I'd suggest you'd better leave now, before the missus wakes up. She's been awful cranky lately. Something not right about this place that last few days."

Jareth stood, caught my wrist, and pulled me through an archway, "hurry."

Confused, I followed quickly, "Why did the worm answer the second but not the first?"

He sighed, "you have to specific with the creatures here. You must say your right words."

"How so?"

"Last time she was here, Sarah made the mistake of asking how to get through the Labyrinth, instead of how to get to the castle. The worm took her at her words and told her which direction to take to get through the labyrinth. If she'd taken the opposite direction, she would have gone straight to the castle, but because of the way she worded it, she had to take the long way. Notice Sarah is very careful with her words?"

I nodded, "I have, actually. When I ask her about it, she just says she doesn't want anyone confused."

He nodded, "Can you see if you are able to reach her again? If you can, try to find out more about her surroundings."

"Sure." We lapsed into silence once more and I focused on Sarah, getting flashes of thought and emotion. "She's sickened by the company she's keeping, but hopeful that we'll get there in time."

* * *

SPOV

I was getting tired of playing the part already. I wasn't sure how much longer I could sit with this person and play the part of the damsel in distress. Clearing my throat a little, I whispered in his ear, "When the cameras are off us, tell me more about the background? How did we meet, where are you from? That kind of thing."

He smiled slightly, paused for a few moments and then spoke, "I am a Fae from the lands adjoining yours. Our lands were at war until we met. We had to stay secret about it, because if either of our families had known, the other child would die. You and I were both children of the royal family. Now, we are betrothed and our parents settled their differences for our sakes, but unfortunately, yours were killed by the Goblin King. As I said before, you were supposed to be my bride tonight, but we must rid ourselves of the Goblin King, first."

I nodded, "What's my kingdom called and what's yours?"

"Your kingdom is the land of the flame-dwellers. His is obviously the land of the Goblins, and mine is the land of the Dark Elves."

"Cool." I filed the information away for later use. We were sitting on the bed, now, leaning against the wall. His arm was around my shoulders and I had my head leaning into him. It was making me sick to my stomach, but I kept my mouth shut, knowing we'd have a problem if I spoke up. "Wait, Fae are like Fairies, right?"

He chuckled, "Fairies are a subdivision of Fae, yes. In the same way that pygmies are a subdivision of humans."

"That makes sense. So, are you the only Fae here or are we both Fae?"

He smiled, "Everyone in this place are Fae, including you."

I wondered if he was making that up or not. For all I knew, having a Fae fall in-love with you tended to turn you into one of them. I filed this piece of information away, too. As I was taking this in and thinking of my next question, I got a flash of horror down my spine and a thought zipped across my mind, _'What the fuck is that thing? is that a bigfoot?'_

It sounded like Leslie and I fought to keep a straight face, knowing that if she was here, she'd probably just met Ludo. The image I got directly after confirmed it. I sent a thought outward, focusing on the Labyrinth and hoping I was doing this the right way, _"Is my best friend with Jareth?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Can I communicate with her?_

"_If you focus, she can hear you."_

Perfect. I focused my thoughts on Leslie, remembering when we'd tried transmitting when we were younger, and then I opened the drawer with all the information I'd learned so far. I felt it arrow out of my head and I quickly asked another question, "So, how much time has passed? I mean, are they really gonna do thirteen hours of footage?"

He nodded, "Unfortunately, yes. It is necessary."

I frowned, "I have homework… Do they know that?"

He shrugged, "I don't think it's important."

"Yea, it is important. I've got a bloody test tomorrow."

"It's alright, Sarah. It's been taken care of."

I sighed, giving in, "Fine. So, where exactly are we? I mean, are we in my maze thingy, then?"

"It's a Labyrinth. Yes, we are in your Labyrinth. She is hiding us from the evil Goblin King—"

"Sorry for interrupting, but do you have to say 'Goblin King' every time? Can't you just call him GK?"

He smiled slightly, hiding irritation, "If you want."

I nodded, "Go on, please."

"She is hiding us from the GK and as I said before, will stop him from reaching us."

I nodded slowly, "Alright. Here's another question. If we're betrothed, does that mean you have power over her as well?"

"Alas, no. Only those who have beaten the Labyrinth have any semblance of power over her. I have been unable to so far. Once I marry you, I will have full control over her, though, the same as you. She will recognize me as her king."

"Isn't that kinda like cheating? I mean, am I her mistress because I beat her?"

Something flashed in his eyes, "It's customary for the heir to run the Labyrinth when they are young. She would never hurt the child and as a result, they make it through unscathed. The heir to the throne is not chosen by age, but by who runs through the Labyrinth the fastest in their fifteenth year. Well, for a Fae, it's supposed to be closer to their fifteen hundredth year, but it translates into roughly the same thing. You ran the Labyrinth when you were the proper age and she agreed to give you power over her. You beat her in just under ten hours."

He watched me carefully as he said it, obviously checking for a memory spark. I decided it was time to give him one. I let my eyes widen and my jaw drop as I stared at him, unfocusing my eyes like I was having a memory surface. "This isn't an RPG, is it?" I whispered a few minutes later.

He shook his head slowly, "No, Sarah. This is not an RPG."

I shook my head in a disbelieving manner, "Then that means that everything you've told me is true?"

He shrugged, still watching me, "Most of it, but not all. You aren't really from here and we aren't engaged, but I am in-love with you and the GK is evil and intending to destroy you."

I gasped for air and put my head between my knees, "And the Labyrinth?"

"All true."

"Jesus," I breathed. Then I got up and started pacing, "So, what? Why does he want to kill me? Obviously, it's not because he wants my control over the Labyrinth, he already has it, so what could he possibly want from me?"

"I told you. He wants you for himself."

I hugged my middle, "Are we really where you said?"

He nodded again, "Yes, Sarah."

"okay… Great. What about the two kingdoms being at war?"

"True as well."

"Great. Evil bastard. He stole my baby brother, you know that? Oh, God. What about him? He didn't do it again, did he?" I internally winced at my own words, looking desperately at him for an answer,

"No. Sarah. Your baby brother is safe in his bed."

"oh, thank god." I was happy I'd wanted to be an actress, because those skills came in handy right now as I forced myself to pale, "Oh, God. Does that mean that what I said to the Labyrinth, about him dying, is real?"

He nodded.

I gasped, "No, no, no, Raiko! I can't be responsible for killing someone! I'm not that kind of person! I have to change the order! I have to! Labyrinth, don't kill the Goblin King! I don't want his death on my conscience!" Then, I jumped as agreement floated into my head, "Holy crap! I think it just talked back!" His eyes narrowed and I amended, acting like I was still freaked, "I mean, not actually talked, but I got this sense of emotion that wasn't mine! Of course, considering how freaked I am, it could easily be mine and I'm just an inch away from hyperventilating…"

A moment later, I glanced over at him and let panic enter my eyes, panic for what I was afraid he'd do if Jareth didn't make it in time, "What is it, Sarah? What's wrong?"

"I'm just freaking out a little. I'm not in my world, I'm stuck waiting for someone to try and take me as his own, which in my world translates directly into getting raped, no matter what the hell it means here, and to top it all off, I realize that that thing," I pointed at the trollthing, "isn't some really ugly guy, but a scary creature. What is it, Raiko?" I let my breathing become ragged and fast, purposely making myself get dizzy from the oxygen intake.

He cleared his throat, "Sarah, calm down."

"oh, God, don't tell me to calm down. What the hell is that thing, Raiko? I'm sorry for swearing at you, but I'm seriously lo-lo-lo—"

He sighed, "It's a troll." I dropped to the ground in a faint. That should convince him. Somehow, he caught me before I hit the ground and I was too startled to jump, thank God.

Moments later, he laid me on the bed, stroked my face and called my name and I pretended to wake up, "What happened?"

"You fainted, Sarah. Don't worry so much. I'm keeping you safe."

I swallowed and whispered, "Did you say that was a troll? Aren't trolls violent?"

He sighed, "Yes. In general, they are. This one follows my orders."

I nodded silently, "It scares me. It keeps staring at me like it wants to do something awful to me."

His eyes narrowed and he turned and looked at it, "Leave."

"But Master."

"Leave."

"yes, Master."

It bowed its way out and I turned to Raiko, "Alright, Raiko. What's going on? Exactly what was lies and what was truth?" I sent a message to the Labyrinth, telling it to talk to Jareth and do as he said and sent a message to Leslie, praying that one made it as I sent everything I'd seen through the door when the troll left.

He sighed, "Sarah, for your sake, don't ask questions."

I realized that if I pushed I was screwed. I took a deep breath, prepared to be screwed.

* * *

LPOV

We were hiking through a forest when something lumbered out of the brush. I choked back a scream. It was huge, easily three times the size of Jareth, width wise. It looked like bigfoot. Then, Jareth walked directly up to it, "Ludo. Where is Sarah?"

"Sawah?" it sounded confused and I smiled a little, despite myself. It was kinda adorable, now. Suddenly, flashes of thoughts and memories came crashing over me and my knees buckled as I put my hands to my head.

Jareth was by my side in an instant, "What is it, Leslie? Is it Sarah?" I nodded, but it felt different than the other times. The rest were fragments, but this time was easier to read and see.

"She's projecting to me," I gasped.

Jareth spoke sharply, "What do you see. It's important."

"She's with two people in a room. One looks like a troll. The other is dark. Not like a void, but like a tall, dark, and handsome sort." I let my eyes slip closed, "Definitely tall. Says you are a bad-guy. Tan skin, closer to chocolate than tan. Kingdom of Dark Elves. Name he gave her is Raiko. Ow. She's not gonna keep up the charade for much longer. I think he's getting suspicious or she can't—ow. Can't keep it up any longer." The flow of information ceased and I clutched at my head, wincing, "Hell. She's got a strong mind when she wants to use it."

He was paler than usual, "You said his name was Raiko and he was from the kingdom of the dark elves?" I nodded and he pulled me to my feet, handing me a crystal, "Press this to your temple. It will work better than a painkiller. It's time to go again. I know who he is and I know that if we don't make it soon, Sarah's in trouble. His abilities revolve around seduction."

"Shit," I cursed, following him and pressing the crystal to my head. The moment I did, it disappeared and so did my headache. I described as much of the room as I could as we walked, but I didn't see much. Sarah hadn't been focused on it when she projected to me.

**R&R, please! I'm sorry about the long wait. hope you enjoyed the chapter. I THINK we're almost done. I'm guessing about 7-10 more chapters? just don't hold me at my word, because these characters don't always cooperate...**

**-Blue  
**

**P.S. Is anyone else having issues with the formatting? I had to go through and put new paragraphs every time someone spoke when I moved it from word doc to . If anyone has any suggestions on fixing this, that'd be great. It's really irritating. Bye!  
**


	19. AN: I'm sorry, I know you guys hate it

**AN: Hey, for all you who are still reading this, I'm really sorry, but I don't think I can continue writing this. I've been hinting for a while that I might drop this story and I've finally realized that the bad memories I associate with this story outweigh my determination. For the time being, I'm done with it. I'm not done writing fanfiction, but I don't think I'll be revisiting this fandom for a while. As of now, I'm putting Sarah's Sequel on indefinite hiatus and I'm really sorry to all you who were looking forward to the next chapter when you got the alert. I'm also thinking about giving it up for adoption, since I hate leaving things undone, so if you're interested, PM me and we'll talk about it.**

**Once again, I'm really sorry.**

**~Blue.**


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